[Gannu_1]

A photo-luminescent powder present in the painted lines on the road charges up during the daytime and releases a green glow for up to eight hours at night.

A snap posted tweeted by a user:


Few more:





Video:
http://nos.nl/embed/?id=e:634091&autoplay=0

Wherever street lighting infrastructure is an issue, this seems to be a not-so-bad idea. For instance, roads leading to and from a hill-top. The other day, we were descending from Saputara towards the Nasik side and the entire road was pitch dark! The bigger issue here appears to be the wear-and-tear of these lines. The paint will have to be patched up from time to time. But brilliant concept otherwise.

Wired

[drayan_idc]

Hey Gannu_1 i really dont see the point in this. The paint which is used on the tarmac has reflective characters. When headlights fall on them they shine and they have the same effect as these glow in dark paints. And remember these are glow in DARK paints which glows when the streets are really dark, but in night headlights will always be on for which reflective paints are enough.

[benbsb29]

If the cost over the standard road paints are not too much, I think this is a brilliant idea. More than motorists, this also helps cyclists.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by drayan_idc

... i really dont see the point in this. The paint which is used on the tarmac has reflective characters...

If I understand right, this glow-in-the-dark paint glows without the need for another source of light. The paint itself is the source of light. The usual paint only reflects the light that falls on it.

So the glow-in-the-dark paint is useful for a driver to see beyond the area covered by her/his headlights, especially when there is oncoming traffic (you see, driving on high beam is very rare when there is oncoming traffic).

[Jeroen]

Being most likely the only Dutch member on this forum, let me elaborate; this is just an experiment. An artist together with a big road construction firm. This paint has been specially developped. It get charged by sun light during the day and emits light during the night. The artist also says it can be charged by a small amount of electricty. No Idea how that would work, he doesnt elaborate.

The guy representing the construction company claims worldwide interest in this concept. Im not sure how much use we would eventually see in the Netherlands as most roads tend to be lit pretty well. Unless of course you want to replace street lightting with this paint to save on your electricty bill.

I dont know where they have put up these lines, had not heard about it before. But then I left the Netherlands to live abroad fi e years ago.

Jeroen

[Gannu_1]

The photo-luminescence is similar to the ones we find on glow-in-the-dark boards, diver’s watches and emergency escape signs which glow after a bright light shines on them. The light fades away gradually but it stays lit for a brief period.





Source: Google images

[Jeroen]

Tried to find some more on this items on Dutch news sites.

Here's another interestin development:

It's all in Dutch, so probably wont make sense to most of the members (anybody on the forum other then me that reads Dutch).

What is interesting is one of the pictures. They are developing paint that will light up based on temperature. So when the road surface gets to 2oC snow flakes will automatically appear on the road surface warning you!!

How cool is that?

Scroll down for the picture of the snowflakes on:

http://www.kennislink.nl/publicaties...an-de-toekomst

Interestingly, the article also mentions that they have a lot of interest from Mumbai! From what I experience of Mumbai traffic every week, getting illiminated stripes on the road would not have my highest priority. Who needs stripes if you're gridlocked for hour after hour.

Jeroen

[tsk1979]

Hmm, now only if we could paint the night highway jaywalkers with this thing. That is what India needs.

[jalsa777]

Some news on the same but this time in English:
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archive...pened_near.php

I plan to go drive on this road sometime; will share my experience here
Alstublieft!

[drayan_idc]

rohanjf even with low beam the reflective paint and the CATS EYES plays an adequate role in showing the road curvature. Yes it may be beneficial for cyclists in small towns where street lights are absent, cyclists are not supposed to ride on highways at night, too dangerous. Another application may be in hilly roads to mark the curvatures specially in hairpin turns to provide an extra cautionary measure.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by drayan_idc

rohanjf even with low beam the reflective paint and the CATS EYES plays an adequate role in showing the road curvature. Yes it may be beneficial for cyclists in small towns where street lights are absent, cyclists are not supposed to ride on highways at night, too dangerous. Another application may be in hilly roads to mark the curvatures specially in hairpin turns to provide an extra cautionary measure.

Just to add a little more specific Dutch info/context. In the Netherlands bicycles are not allowed on the highways by law, day or night. There are also a large number of other roads they are not allowed on either. And people stick to those laws.

The Netherlands tend to have a lot of separate bicycle paths, so on those roads the bicycles don't mix with the cars and the trucks. Still, where they do mix the biggest risk especially at night, is visibility or rather lack of, by the drivers. So, again by law, all Dutch bicycles are equipped with front and rear lights, rear end reflector and reflective stripes on the tires, front and rear. And yes, the police will fine you if you don't have working lights on your bicycle at night!

Jeroen

[Joe M]

If this becomes popular, it's going to be a real boon for driving at night. Sometimes glare from headlights of cars coming from opposite side makes it difficult to see the edges of the road. But it'll take long time to be seen used on Indian highways.

[fine69]

This wouldn't make sense on most of the Indian roads. With the kind of dust/dirt on the roads, this powder would be under layers of dust to be seen.

[Gannu_1]

On a slightly related note, we clicked these on the Vadodara-Ahmedabad expressway during our last trip around 6 AM.





Looks like the markings are reflective?

[Wanderers]

Hi Gannu,

I have done Baroda-Ahmedabad to & fro quite a number of times via Expressway along with couple of night driving on Yamuna Expressway.

I find that the fluorescent reflectors on the road (white for the lanes & yellow ones for side & divider) are really good. The problem is that they get damaged very fast and replacement happens, may be once a year.

The newly made YE is well maintained and the reflectors do a very good Job. Its looks as good as the picture you have posted except that they are not continuous as a strip.