Cats eyes where have they gone?

[Welshbeef]

This might be a geographical thing but when I grew up in N Wales they were on pretty much every road.

Now in Berkshire with the odd exception they don't exist instead plain white lines or in many B roads no white lines at all.
The frustration to me is some incoming traffic don't really know what their half of the road is grr

[vikingaero]

If they have been replaced they have been replaced by plastic reflective road studs.

[loafer123]

The new ones near me are remarkable...look in your rear-view mirror and they are shining away even with no traffic - they must have some built in luminosity.

[Welshbeef]

loafer123 said:

The new ones near me are remarkable...look in your rear-view mirror and they are shining away even with no traffic - they must have some built in luminosity.

A34 none
M4 j10-13 none (also none J10-8/9 where it is a lit carridge way
M40 Watlington to M25 don't recall any for most of it
B roads none
Most a roads none.

[ecsrobin]

In Hampshire a few roads have powered cat eyes so if you really wanted to you could turn your lights off and still follow the road.....

[Claudia Skies]

I think the cats eyes are in the pot-holes....

[CraigyMc]

Welshbeef said:

A34 none
M4 j10-13 none (also none J10-8/9 where it is a lit carridge way
M40 Watlington to M25 don't recall any for most of it
B roads none
Most a roads none.

There are cats eyes on the A34.

[Welshbeef]

CraigyMc said:

There are cats eyes on the A34.

East Ilsbury to Newbury?
Newbury to Winchester?

[PhillipM]

noticed the same thing the past 6 months or so, seem to be a lot of roads with lighting switched off, markings worn out, and no cats eyes any more.

[CraigyMc]

Welshbeef said:

CraigyMc said:

There are cats eyes on the A34.

East Ilsbury to Newbury?
Newbury to Winchester?

All the way from the M40 to the M3. I use the road all the time.

[Wacky Racer]

http://www.percyshawcatseyes.com/history

Alan Whicker did a fascinating documentary with Percy Shaw in the 1960's...a multi-millionaire, but he lived alone like a hermit and very rarely opened his curtains...

Used to be on You tube, but it seems to have gone.......

[thecremeegg]

I noticed this recently here in Hampshire/Surrey - the cats eyes are there but don't light up so I assume are knackered. The only ones that work are the ones that have been replaced when the road has been resurfaced (lol).

[Welshbeef]

CraigyMc said:

All the way from the M40 to the M3. I use the road all the time.

I'll double check this tomorrow on those sections

[PlayersNo6]

Wacky Racer said:

http://www.percyshawcatseyes.com/history

Alan Whicker did a fascinating documentary with Percy Shaw in the 1960's...a multi-millionaire, but he lived alone like a hermit and very rarely opened his curtains...

Used to be on You tube, but it seems to have gone.......

Alan Partridge interviewed his son, got bored and went on about a deer he had to finish off with a jack.

[surveyor]

If they are anything like the back of my car they will be way too caked in grime to do anything....

[TonyRPH]

surveyor said:

If they are anything like the back of my car they will be way too caked in grime to do anything....

I seem to recall that they are self cleaning - when a tyre passes over them, they are pressed down and a cleaning action results.

Just checked WIkipedia and indeed they are.

Wikipedia said:

A key feature of the cat's eye is the flexible rubber dome which is occasionally deformed by the passage of traffic. A fixed rubber wiper cleans the surface of the reflectors as they sink below the surface of the road (the base tends to hold water after a shower of rain, making this process even more efficient). The rubber dome is protected from impact damage by metal 'kerbs' – which also give tactile and audible feedback for wandering drivers.

[markcoznottz]

E

Wacky Racer said:

http://www.percyshawcatseyes.com/history

Alan Whicker did a fascinating documentary with Percy Shaw in the 1960's...a multi-millionaire, but he lived alone like a hermit and very rarely opened his curtains...

Used to be on You tube, but it seems to have gone.......

Clever bloke.....saw his car headlights reflected in a real cats eyes and the rest is history....good job the cat wasn't facing the other way or he would have invented the tea towel holder ...😃

[Asterix]

markcoznottz said:

E

Wacky Racer said:

http://www.percyshawcatseyes.com/history

Alan Whicker did a fascinating documentary with Percy Shaw in the 1960's...a multi-millionaire, but he lived alone like a hermit and very rarely opened his curtains...

Used to be on You tube, but it seems to have gone.......

Clever bloke.....saw his car headlights reflected in a real cats eyes and the rest is history....good job the cat wasn't facing the other way or he would have invented the tea towel holder ...??

Lucky he wasn't in Tokyo at the time either.