RE: Glow-in-the-dark roads coming
Discussion
R60EST said:
Has anyone driven on roads where the cats eyes are some sort of LED and remain lit even though your headlights are not shining on them ( I'm assuming they must be solar charged with a battery in ) . Quite unusual when you first see them .
I had a quick google , here they are
http://cleantechnica.com/2009/01/17/luna-road-unve...
Yes. There are some not too far from me on the road to Bridgnorth. I could see them in the mirror but by the time everyone looked around, we'd already moved out of view, so no-one believed me that they stayed illuminated. I had a quick google , here they are
http://cleantechnica.com/2009/01/17/luna-road-unve...
This led to me briefly flicking the headlights off on approach to them on another trip (only for a moment and with no other traffic nearby) to prove the point. Unfortunately we were in my old Mini, meaning that I ended up on the grass verge on a pitch black moonless night, with a torch in my mouth, under the bonnet, hitting things until the loose connection came back on. A friend had to stand back from the car and wave a flashing orange light around in case anyone else came down the road at speed and took me out.
Great idea, that.
John.Taylor said:
Painting curb would be dangerous as it would make people keep away from it and drive more towards the centre of the road with a greater risk of head on collisions. Cats eyes are great as they show wheter the centre is and move them towards the edges avoiding head ons.
In Ireland they have cats eyes in the middle and on the verge. I hate a busy road with them only in the middle. Its easier to keep close to the hedge if you have them to reference to.richb77 said:
An ok idea that has one fatal flaw.
Illuminated roads are neeed mainly in the winter months where more people are exposed to driving inthe dark.
This paint uses the power of the British sun to "charge" the paint for the night.
Now i am just guessing but we barely got enough sun during this years summer to charge a watch dial so how is this going to work in the REAL world?
Well yes it will work as we still get the light from the sun everyday evan if we can't actually see it. In my 27 years the sun has always risen without fail. I think if it didn't, solar paint would be the least of our worries. Illuminated roads are neeed mainly in the winter months where more people are exposed to driving inthe dark.
This paint uses the power of the British sun to "charge" the paint for the night.
Now i am just guessing but we barely got enough sun during this years summer to charge a watch dial so how is this going to work in the REAL world?
R60EST said:
Has anyone driven on roads where the cats eyes are some sort of LED and remain lit even though your headlights are not shining on them ( I'm assuming they must be solar charged with a battery in ) . Quite unusual when you first see them .
I had a quick google , here they are
http://cleantechnica.com/2009/01/17/luna-road-unve...
Yep! I had a quick google , here they are
http://cleantechnica.com/2009/01/17/luna-road-unve...
They used to have them on the road that goes past Lakenheath airbase. We used to go to Newmarket in a minibus to go clubbing, and it would wig everyone out (and cause lots of sickness
) when we came back along that bit of road pissed!
We need this BADLY!
And if we paint our cars in a different glow in the dark paint, night time driving will look like this!
On a more serious note, how good would it actually be when driving with your headlights on?
I'm sure the light emitted there would grossly outweigh the glowing effect of the paint rendering it useless?
And if we paint our cars in a different glow in the dark paint, night time driving will look like this!
On a more serious note, how good would it actually be when driving with your headlights on?
I'm sure the light emitted there would grossly outweigh the glowing effect of the paint rendering it useless?
The main issues I personally see with this is the same issues we have with the existing systems:
1, Roads get dirty
2, This stuff wears out
Re the Active street lamps comment, the main issue is cost, you'd need a reliable detection system that not only worked for cars, but trucks, bikes, pedestrians etc. This isn't going to be cheap!
Also these systems are of most benefit in quiet areas, where there is less inclination to spend money.
1, Roads get dirty
2, This stuff wears out
Re the Active street lamps comment, the main issue is cost, you'd need a reliable detection system that not only worked for cars, but trucks, bikes, pedestrians etc. This isn't going to be cheap!
Also these systems are of most benefit in quiet areas, where there is less inclination to spend money.
Having driven down a couple of roads where the powered LED cats eyes are in use, they are surprisingly good.
They illuminate themselves far beyond the range of your car headlights allowing anyone to see exactly where the road is going, see junctions, etc, etc. (or see if it goes over the brow of a hill)
Imagine driving in very, very bright sunshine on tarmac with black lines and reverse the colours - they're brilliant.
I can imagine this luminous paint, if it can "charge up" sufficiently in the daytime to keep it illuminated at night, and last for 5+ years, to be a set up from LED cats eyes.
It'll be just like driving in the game Tron
They illuminate themselves far beyond the range of your car headlights allowing anyone to see exactly where the road is going, see junctions, etc, etc. (or see if it goes over the brow of a hill)
Imagine driving in very, very bright sunshine on tarmac with black lines and reverse the colours - they're brilliant.
I can imagine this luminous paint, if it can "charge up" sufficiently in the daytime to keep it illuminated at night, and last for 5+ years, to be a set up from LED cats eyes.
It'll be just like driving in the game Tron
John.Taylor said:
Painting curb would be dangerous as it would make people keep away from it and drive more towards the centre of the road with a greater risk of head on collisions. Cats eyes are great as they show wheter the centre is and move them towards the edges avoiding head ons.
Nope, we've got reflective markings in the middle and on the edges of the road. Never has there been a head on because someone was pushed away from the edge.The glow in the dark markings seem largely inconsequential, wouldn't hurt anything that I can think of but wouldn't help much either.
The other bit of this however:
1)Snowflake symbols 'turn on' by hitting 4 Celsius or whatever the chemical threshold is set as.
2)Traffic flow across the affected area instantly reduced to 10mph.
The other bit of this however:
1)Snowflake symbols 'turn on' by hitting 4 Celsius or whatever the chemical threshold is set as.
2)Traffic flow across the affected area instantly reduced to 10mph.
Over in Germany we were in an area where they were trialling an LED system that was red on the left verge, white in the center lanes and green on the right verge. When the temp dropped below 4 degrees the white leds turned blue and in the event of an accident or roadworks they would go yellow. Very guicci indeed.
fwaggie said:
Having driven down a couple of roads where the powered LED cats eyes are in use, they are surprisingly good.
They illuminate themselves far beyond the range of your car headlights allowing anyone to see exactly where the road is going, see junctions, etc, etc. (or see if it goes over the brow of a hill)
Agree with this. Very decent indeed. There's a section of the A12 (most unlit anyway) which has these and they make a big difference.They illuminate themselves far beyond the range of your car headlights allowing anyone to see exactly where the road is going, see junctions, etc, etc. (or see if it goes over the brow of a hill)
Any idea how they compare in terms of cost to the normal cats eyes?
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