Safe Speed Forums

LED based "cats eye" type devices embedded into the sides of the kerbstones, would give an excellent indicator of the road extremes, particularly in poor visibility. The LED's could be directional, like PAPI / VASI lights at airfields so the offside kerb is always red and the nearside white.

not a bad idea but...

"red" is overused! there are a significant minority of people who do not see "red" that well! being one I would prefer information/warning signs to use other colours. (it wouldnt disadvantage anybody else but it might help me IYSWIM)

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

We had a problem in Cumbria with LED lights.
Youths took to driving the road at night with no lights on whatsoever at speeds of upto 90 mph as a show of bravado - despite some of them killing themselves

This year, they came and took them all up.
They had been installed because the bends in the road prevented headlights illuminating conventional lights effectively - so now we suffer for the sake of a few idiots.

Epileptics might not like the flashing at the periphery vision too - but a nice idea.
Maybe UV LED's illuminating a flourescent stripe - a bit more low key?

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

I've seen some LED 'cats eyes'. The IDIOTS who designed them thought it was a good idea to improve battery life by switching the applied voltage at ~100Hz - the flicker was highly visible and distracting as they got close.

This trick can extend battery life by at least a factor of ten but KEEP IT OFF THE ROADS!

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

ah is that what it was.... i encountered some on the way back from norfolk the other weekend, somewhere in leics. possibly.

i couldnt really tell they were illuminated until they became distracting flicking past the side window... and yes.. distinctly flickering in my peripheral vision.

We have some self-illuminating cats eyes round here, but I'm not sure they're LED though? They don't APPEAR to flicker but they are extremely bright.

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Science won over religion when they started installing lightning rods on churches.

actually i'm surprised by the battery life thing anyway... arent they solar charged ?

What still amazes me is that the people who put these in never considered this possibility - the first thought that crossed my mind when I saw them was to wonder what all the local boy racers would make of it. It's on a par with radar signs that flash up the speed of the approaching vehicle - did they really need to install a few to discover that young alpha males would go for the "high score"?

Is it wise that people who are clearly so out of touch with human psychology should be making road safety decisions.

Quite apart from that, like Paul I found them extremely distracting as they flick past yuor peripheral vision, to the extent that it became difficult to concentrate on the road ahead. Good riddance to them, though we now have some further illuminated signs at the approach to the same bends, which grab your attention before completely destroying your night vision just when you need it most.

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

I find that the Cacophony of road side signs makes driving more unpleasant - everywhere signs are reflecting back , so that hi beam whilst necessary to see ahaed safely is hijacked by the reflection off signs -- in short - the information imparted by the signs is negated by the need to go to dip, so as not to be dazzled by these signs.

If I was a chemist, I would invent a paint that reacted with rain and glowed in the dark. All the roads would have their marking painted with this and I would make millions of pounds and live happly ever after

I was going to jest that you have to be going too fast to trigger them - but the southbound ones trigger at well below a safe speed for the following bend.
Ultimately, they are destroying any respect drivers might have for them!

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

My wife was very surprised when she triggered the westbound one at Greenodd the other week. The reason? She was stuck behind a tractor at the time at 20mph!

Just how much more do they want you to "Slow Down"?

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CSCP Latin for beginners...
Ticketo ergo sum : I scam therefore I am!

Stil wondering , after i came on a set in a 30 - saying "limit 30 - slow down " -- looked at speedo - was doing 20

So do they want us to slow down or just laugh.

And the ones in Coventry have gone back up -and so has the speed they tell you you're doing.

The trouble with adding loads of visibility stuff to tricky road layouts is that drivers become conditioned to expect the aids.

What would happen on roads where it isn't cost effective to install them?

Is there not already some form of electro-luminescent paint available? This would allow the painted lines to have a low current passed along them, providing they remained unbroken by roadworks/wear&tear/etc., and provide illumination. The current could be drawn from the existing power-grid, so battery life would not be an issue, thus eliminating the need for flicker.

Who would pay for that power and the wiring up of all 250,000 miles of road?

I've suddenly realised why I'm worried about self-illuminated cats eyes.

They lead you to places that you can't see into. That's barking mad isn't it?

Proper cats eyes extend the range of your headlights a little by being efficient reflectors, but they NEVER show you a bit of road that your headlights can't see (like around the next bend for example).

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Be that as it may, is that actually so dangerous?

At first glance one would think so, but are more nighttime accidents caused by leaving the road, or crashing into unlit objects in the roadway? I would strongly suspect the former, but I stand to be corrected.

Bloody good question! I don't know the answer unfortunately.

Even if running off the road is the bigger problem, I'm still worried about the 'false sense of security' effect of leading drivers where they can't see. It could potentially lead to declining standards of judgement with regard to safe and appropriate speeds.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

You have to think of unlit problems.

Mud, foxes, tree branches, pedestrians, farm animals, large puddles, sunken drains.

If you start the process of taking the responsibility for seeing if the road is clear ahead away from the driver, at what point do you stop.