motor news, women drivers
Shorter days and longer hours of darkness, along with inclement winter weather place particular emphasis on the need for road delineation, to show the driver where the road goes next.
The latest generation of a British-designed "smart" road-stud has just been certified by the Department for Transport and is making a significant improvement to driving safety, with a big boost in visibility compared with the traditional reflective "cats-eye."
The Astucia SolarLite™ stud stores solar energy during the day, then built-in Light Emitting Diodes automatically illuminate from dusk to dawn, providing drivers with up to 900 metres of visibility.
This is ten times greater than the traditional, retro-reflective, passive road stud that relies on being illuminated by the headlight beam of the approaching vehicle. At best it has a useful range of 90 metres.
The increased visibility given by the SolarLite road stud extends driver reaction times from 3.2 to over 30 seconds, when driving at 60mph. The studs are now in use in approximately 120 locations across the UK and a number of Local Authorities have reported reductions in night time accidents of well over 70% since the installation of the SolarLite "smart" road studs.
Research carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory also shows that when the smart studs are used, drivers also significantly less likely to cross the white line in the centre of a road or move out of lane on a dual carriageway. They also brake earlier and more consistently.
This is brilliant and what’s more... it’s British! Hurrah!
FemaleFirst - Jackie Violet