Having just returned to home base from Dover it really struck me how the quality and quantity of cat's eyes in the carriageway lanes has deteriorated.
There were quite substantial sections of unlit road, and not minor roads, (A11, A1) where they were either not there, or if there, were barely visible.
After 10 years living in Spain, I suppose I had become used to their absence, but it wasn't long before I again realised what a useful aid to safer night (more relaxed, less squinting ) driving they are.
Is this cost-cutting or just negligence?
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One of the best simple things ever designed for the road.
I like the new type though that glow, on a deserted road you can see for miles behind where you've been too.
Are the new style luminous?
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I remember seeing the chap who invented cats eyes on the television.
They made a program about him he loved his tellys.
Clever man who had his eyes open.
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The self illuminating ones GB mentions have been installed on the B4525 east of Banbury. LED I think.
Quite disorientating at first; natural reaction was to look for the vehicle whose headlights they were reflecting.
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The LED ones are installed in the new A3 hindhead tunnel, and they were very noticeable in the tunnels along Upper Thames Street, when I did the London Sky Ride.
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Are they the ones that detect a vehicle amd 'turn themselves on' ?
IIRC, they were installed on the A590 in the South Lakes in order to reduce the large number of night-time accidents. As ever, the law of untintended consequences kicked in - a large number of these night time accidents were boy racers with nothing else to do at two in the morning.
Trying to out-run the cats' eyes turning themselves on gave them something to do, and the number of accidents went up, and the cats' eyes were removed.
or so I am lead to believe......
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or so I am lead to believe......
so its LED out ?
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>> Are they the ones that detect a vehicle amd 'turn themselves on' ?
Who knows, it will always be on when I am there! This is like the the "if a tree falls in the forest and there is no-one there, did it make a sound"
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>> The self illuminating ones GB mentions have been installed on the B4525 east of Banbury.
They've been a feature of parts of the A420 from Swindon to Oxford for quite a few years now.
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>> I remember seeing the chap who invented cats eyes on the television.
>>
Percy Shaw en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Shaw
If the cat had been facing the other way would he have invented a towel holder?
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It's a test of skill to cross and recross them without touching and getting the thud thud thud. Or is it only old-fashioned rubber ones that did that?
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Let us hope the D of T Stasi have moved on the from the mooted plan to put speed cameras, of some sort, into cat's eyes!
It was a Brunstrom supported idea apparently.
www.pistonheads.com/porsche/default.asp?storyId=12204
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It was really easy to drive huge distances in my Mondeo without touching a catseye. I can't find the knack on the Qashqai at all. Must be to do with the length of the wheelbase. The things you do to relieve boredom on long journeys. Like trying not to brake for given time periods or distances. Or is it just me?
:-)
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No, I do the same thing. Agree about wheel base, I struggle to do it in the 1-series.
I like the ones on the A4-something south of Oxford. Only problem is that the first time anyone sees them they thing "WOW!" and turn their headlights off briefly. :-)
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>> If the cat had been facing the other way would he have invented a towel holder?
No. A pencil sharpener.
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I've done the no-braking thing, Humph. My last Saab had a GM-derived feature that put "Test Brake Lights" on the information display when the ignition went on. A touch on the pedal would clear it, and even if I forgot it would disappear at the first touch in the course of normal driving.
But occasionally I'd stop at motorway services and drive off without cancelling the message. I think my record was 75 miles with it still showing.
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Parallel parking without turning round? ( ie on the mirrors ) not so much of an ego boost now with the Nissan as it has beepy things.
Fuel light roulette? Highest score before bottling ( well actually re-fuelling ) it was 74 miles...
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Wimp - been down to twelve miles on the bike, all because I was too stubborn not to put the recommended 98 RON fuel in it.
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Wimp? No, no, no, I mean 74 miles AFTER it says there's none left.
I think the nervous one is in Anglesey on this particular occosion...
:-)
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My Mazda6 diesel has a 64.5 litre fuel tank. When it says 0 miles left on the range computer it still has a couple of gallons at least left. Never driven it too far when it is showing 0 mile range though.
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What I want to know is, where do they get all those cats from ?
;0)
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Just down the road is a small hamlet called Cats Common. A few years back they were resurfacing the road and just after the village sign there was another advising Cats Eyes Removed.
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I had a Vectra once. Returning home late one night, I ended up with the satnav showing 43km to run and the computer showing 54km left. Petrol station wot accepts company fuel card is a couple of klicks in my favour.
It ran out while still showing 23 remaining......
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Thought about this on the way to work this morning. Eastbound M4 between Slough and Langley, slight upslope and low autumn sun. The road surface is so pockmarked with the traces of temporary lane studs from previous roadworks, and the proper white lines and catseyes are in such a poor state that against strong sunlight it's not always obvious where you should be going.
I should be careful what I wish for; when they do decide to resurface it it'll take me all week to get to work.
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In the early eighties after a heavy snowfall the village of Mickleton near Stratford on Avon was cut off, luckily the Royal Engineers based at Long Marston camp nearby came to the rescue with bulldozers and cleared the roads of snow and every cat's eye for miles.
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The LED ones are on all the time it's dark. The game the lads were playing on the A590 (the road goes through the trees, and is windy and bumpy) was seeing how fast they could get through with no lights on. Darwinism in action....
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I use the aforementioned B4525 regularly, last night actually, for country roads the LED (never knew that) cats eyes are the best thing ever.
What powers them?
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Coincidentally the day after this thread appeared, I passed a cats eye insertion team at work.
How do They Do That?
One man operates a thing like a giant dentist's drill on a lorry, another walks along popping in the eye holders, and a third follows pouring in hot tar to glue them in.
A 4th man walks ahead with a stop/go board, and a 5th behind with another board.
So slowly the 5-man team plods about the country, popping in new cats eyes as required.
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Thats progress for you..>:)
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Proper job that though, beats this malarky. I'd not mind being a cat's eye installation operative or whatever they get to call themselves. At least you wouldn't have to be nice to people who don't deserve to be put out ( by any method ) if they were on fire.
:-)
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Cat's Eyes. - -
