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Dixie
PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 14:00 
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Daily Telegraph

Quote:
Smart cats' eyes to make roads safer
By David Millward
(Filed: 24/07/2006)

The humble cat's eye, invented in 1934, is to undergo a major high-tech overhaul.

First introduced on Britain's roads by Jim Callaghan in 1947 when he was a junior transport minister, the cat's eye is to become an "intelligent road stud" that will do a lot more than just help motorists follow the road at night.

The Highways Agency is looking at new, sophisticated designs that will provide its control centres and drivers with far more information than in the past.

Tests have been done at Saltash in Cornwall, while Transport Scotland has installed the studs on a 1.8-mile stretch of the M8 near Glasgow.

The studs get brighter as visibility worsens and can be made to flash at the flick of a switch.

They can alert drivers to ice by turning blue when the road temperature drops below freezing and warn them of delays ahead by being switched to red or flashing amber.

The test studs on the M8 are connected to the national grid, but trials of solar-powered studs, which are not as bright, have been taking place in other areas, including Peterborough and the Vale of Glamorgan.

This year the Highways Agency will also examine how the studs can be used to send information about traffic flow back to a control centre.

One possible use could be to monitor cars as part of a "pay as you drive" road pricing scheme, which the Government is backing to help relieve road congestion.

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Johnnytheboy
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 14:14 
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In Somerset and Dorset, they seem to be taking the old ones away at an alarming rate.

:?
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Steve
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 14:49 
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The day these things get used as congestion charge or speed enforcement devices is the day every red blooded UK driver will take to roads with pick axes/paint/sanders/acid/thermite……
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g_attrill
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 21:34 
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There is a stretch of LED/solar cat's eyes near Fleet (Hants). I think they are the ones which go red during freezing temperatures. Only down-side is that they are strobed so they flicker very slightly as you drive towards them.

Gareth
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Twister
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 23:59 
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g_attrill wrote:
There is a stretch of LED/solar cat's eyes near Fleet (Hants). I think they are the ones which go red during freezing temperatures.


I hope they're not placed along the centreline of the road, unless Hampshire has gone all continental and everyone drives on the right down there... Only, the Highway Code does state that "Red studs mark the left edge of the road" :shock:

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g_attrill
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 01:13 
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Twister wrote:
g_attrill wrote:
There is a stretch of LED/solar cat's eyes near Fleet (Hants). I think they are the ones which go red during freezing temperatures.


I hope they're not placed along the centreline of the road, unless Hampshire has gone all continental and everyone drives on the right down there... Only, the Highway Code does state that "Red studs mark the left edge of the road" :shock:


Not sure, I think they only light up when they detect headlamps, and therefore might only light up from rear when there is an oncoming car but not when there are two vehicles.

Either way, apprently it's a regular test area for road technology so perhaps they have special authorisation.

Gareth
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g_attrill
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 13:28 
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Further to my comment about the strobing effect, I saw this article today:

"New cat's eye 'could trigger fit'"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6226285.stm
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Steve
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 13:53 
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g_attrill wrote:
Further to my comment about the strobing effect, I saw this article today:

"New cat's eye 'could trigger fit'"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/6226285.stm

You beat me to it :)

What will they do with the modern rear brake light LEDs clusters? These also strobe at 100-200 x per sec. Only last week I saw (what I thought was) a Saab which I guess had foot brake applied - the cluster flashing at only ~50xps (50% duty); I could clearly see the flicker.


This is the bit that really gets my goat:

The Highways Agency wrote:
The Highways Agency said it was taking the complaint seriously, no more LED cat's eyes will be installed until the effect on people with epilepsy had been fully evaluated.


When all along they should have been saying:

What The Highways Agency should have wrote:
The Highways Agency said it was taking the complaint seriously, no more speed cameras will be installed until the effects of distraction and skill erosion on people had been fully evaluated.
:roll:
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RobinXe
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 17:46 
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I've never found myself particularly susceptible to problems with flickers, might have a problem at work if I did! Nevertheless, I find these strobed LEDs are particularly distracting when you move your eyes/head while they are in your field of view.

I'm not really sure how to describe it, but there seems to be some issue with persistence of vision, that causes them to impact far more on my consciousness than non-strobing lights.
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Steve
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 19:06 
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There is a relevant thread here:

http://www.safespeed.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10539
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