The lights used for street lighting are not instant "on" like the ones in your house. Typically they require a 3 to 5 minute warm up before significant amounts of light are produced. Also, after they are turned off the ballast must cool before it can be turned on again. Just time one after a lightening bolt causes the electric eye to turn the light off and you'll get the picture.

Back when I was commuting on a bicycle I planned my routes based on: A.Width of road B.Lighting of road C.Average traffic. I was able to get around town (small town of 45,000) quite well. Despite having a very nice handlebar mounted headlight I still prefer traveling the well-lit streets. Many studies have been done on streetlights regarding crime reduction. While the studies conclude on both sides of debate, I prefer neighborhoods with street lighting. I imagine a scenario of driving along, suddenly a blurry small child/cat/dog/object jets into the roadway. If the area has some lighting, it may be easier to see the child/object and avoid it. If the area has some lighting, it may be easier to NOT hit any parked cars/objects in the process of swerving. For the record, I am very much against gas stations/parking lots who use an excess of lighting or inefficient lighting. I do think that use of street lights have positives that outweighs the negatives.

On a more positive note, LED street lights are quickly becoming more common and are instant-on, as well as very efficient.

I haven't heard of general LED street lighting, just traffic signals.

I think the people living near lights that were constantly flashing on & off would quickly become annoyed. . .