The New Streetlights

A month or so ago, a notice appeared in the village bulletin that new streetlights had been selected and were going to be installed.  They would be LED lights, which use less power AND they have the ability for each one to have its brightness changed if necessary, from some central control place.  So I  guessed they would be of the latest style which is called "full cutoff" which means the light fixture will only allow the light to shine straight down on the street, not sideways or up in the sky thus not wasting light in directions it is not needed, and thus reducing light pollution.  So imagine my disappointment when we got our new light and it is not shielded!  Our old mercury vapor light was a glass hemisphere and the light went everywhere, including into our living room!  I don't get it - EVERYONE now knows that all lights should be shielded!  Notice how the light is lighting up our front lawn!  To what purpose?

And this shows how the light is glaring to drivers - from this distance away, the light should not be shining in the driver's eyes, thus interfering with their vision at night.  This is beyond stupid!  What kind of consultants or lighting company doesn't know enough not to use shielded lights!  And notice how the front of our house is lit up as well!  I am really hacked off and so I will go talk to the village manager, and see if they can add a shield to keep the light out of our windows, and to keep our lawn dark so I can do astronomy without the interference of the lights!