Solar-powered cat's eyes known as solar road studs and showing a red or amber LED to traffic, have been introduced on roads regarded as particularly dangerous at locations throughout the world. These are often used in conjunction with two rows of the temporary cat's eyes to divide traffic moving in opposite directions during motorway roadworks. These are typically day glow green/yellow so they are easily visible in daylight as well as in darkness they can then be used on their own for lane division.Īlso seen during motorway repair work are plastic traffic pillars that are inserted into the socket of a retractable cat's eye rather than being free-standing. Temporary cat's eyes with just a reflective strip are often used during motorway repair work.

These units are not very visible in daylight and are generally used in conjunction with traditionally painted lines.

Green indicates a line that may be crossed, such as a slip road or lay-by.

Red is used for the left side of a dual carriageway, while amber is used for the right side of a dual carriageway.

Red and amber cat's eyes denote lines that should not be crossed.

White is used to indicate the centre line of a single carriageway road or the lane markings of a dual carriageway or motorway.

In the United Kingdom, different colours of cat's eyes are used to denote different situations: Local practice United Kingdom and Hong Kong In 2006, Catseye was voted one of Britain's top 10 design icons in the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum, a list which included Concorde, Mini, Supermarine Spitfire, K2 telephone box, World Wide Web and the AEC Routemaster bus. Eventually, their use spread all over the world. After the war, they received firm backing from a Ministry of Transport committee led by James Callaghan and Sir Arthur Young. The blackouts of World War II (1939–1945) and the shuttered car headlights then in use demonstrated the value of Shaw's invention and helped popularise their mass use in the UK. The retroreflecting lens had been invented six years earlier for use in advertising signs by Richard Hollins Murray, an accountant from Herefordshire and, as Shaw acknowledged, they had contributed to his idea. 436,290 and 457,536), and on 15 March 1935, founded Reflecting Roadstuds Limited in Halifax to manufacture the items. In 1934, he patented his invention (patents Nos. The name 'cat's eye' comes from Shaw's inspiration for the device: the eyeshine reflecting from the eyes of a cat. When the tram-lines were removed in the nearby suburb of Ambler Thorn, he realised that he had been using the polished steel rails to navigate at night. The inventor of cat's eyes was Percy Shaw of Boothtown, Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. History Double-ended cat's eye is Shaw's original design and marks road centre-line

The rubber dome is protected from impact damage by metal 'kerbs' – which also give tactile and audible feedback for wandering drivers. 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). Cat's eyes are particularly valuable in fog and are largely resistant to damage from snow ploughs.Ī key feature of the cat's eye is the flexible rubber dome which is occasionally deformed by the passage of traffic. A single-ended form has become widely used in other colours at road margins and as lane dividers. This is the kind that marks the centre of the road, with one pair of cat's eyes showing in each direction. The original form consisted of two pairs of retroreflectors set into a white rubber dome, mounted in a cast iron housing. The cat's eye design originated in the UK in 1934 and is today used all over the world. Contentsĭescription Cat's eye glass body and principle of operation back (left) face is mirror-coated Retroreflective safety device used in road markingĪ cat's eye or road stud is a retroreflective safety device used in road marking and was the first of a range of raised pavement markers.

Cateye on road