Futuristic Highway Will Glow In the Dark For Icy Conditions

Hugh Pickens writes writes "Will Oremus reports that a glow-in-the-dark highway will be installed in the Netherlands that will replace standard road markings with photoluminescent powder that charges in the daylight and glows through the night for up to 10 hours. But the new highway's most interesting feature is when the temperature drops below freezing, the road will automatically light up with snowflake indicators to warn drivers of icy conditions (video). 'One day I was sitting in my car in the Netherlands, and I was amazed by these roads we spend millions on but no one seems to care what they look like and how they behave,' says designer Daan Roosegaarde. 'I started imagining this Route 66 of the future where technology jumps out of the computer screen and becomes part of us.' The first few hundred meters of glow-in-the-dark, weather-indicating road will be installed in the province of Branbant in mid-2013, followed by priority induction lanes for electric vehicles, interactive lights that switch on as cars pass and wind-powered lights within the next five years. 'Research on smart transportation systems and smart roads has existed for over 30 years — call any transportation and infrastructure specialist and you'll find out yourself,' adds Emina Sendijarevick. 'What's lacking is the implementation of those innovations and making those innovations intuitive and valuable to the end-consumers — drivers.'"

Comments

Freezy Freakies

[EmagGeek]

I had gloves that did that back in the 1970's.

Glad to finally see a more practical use for this 50 year old technology.

Re:Freezy Freakies

[kannibal_klown]

Meh, I wouldn't say a waste. There are some roads I've been on that I actually wish the white-lines would glow in the dark. Roads without street lights with (sometimes) more dangerous conditions (curves and such). Of course, some of these roads make me wish for that, because the lines are starting to wear away so it's hard to see... and a plain re-paint might just solve that.

As for showing when freezing conditions are in effect, I guess if they're going to go re-paint with glow-in-the-dark, this isn't a complete waste. And particularly only certain bad stretches of road.

Not all people have an "exterior temperature" reading on their car nor do they care to check. If some roads (like bridges) are more susceptible to freezing, or are insanely dangerous when freezing such as a specific stretch that has 10x the accidents of the average iced road, then it could help a little.

Meanwhile, it would help make the association for drivers that "something is not normal" and adjust their driving habits. Here in NJ, we have people that don't realize how bad road conditions are so they drive just as wild as when the roads are pristine. Which, I guess wouldn't be insane if you have the skills to back it up or are used to it because you live in an area where this is common-place. But they don't, so you see cars and SUVs doing the "idiot dance" across the road because they don't know any better. If you can make that visual association in their heads (ice + roads == bad) maybe it could reduce it.

Personally, I drive fine but I also drive careful when conditions warrant it.

Re:Freezy Freakies

[kannibal_klown]

My previous car, it would "ding" and take up the whole radio/gps screen whenever the temperature dipped below 35F. And it would stay there for like 30 seconds during which time I couldn't see or use the touch screen (see the map, change the station to one of my favorites, etc). Normally, this wasn't so bad.. just slightly annoying.

EXCEPT when the temperature would be right AROUND 35F. Because between wind, my engine heat, etc. the temperature might fluxuate between 35F and 36F constantly. So thing would "ding" and take up my screen every could of minutes. And I couldn't turn the feature off.

Sure, you might be thinking "how often is the temperature right around 35F" I thought the same thing the first time it repeated... but apparently it's more common in NJ than you'd think.

My current car just has the exterior temperate. It does NOT warn me about the presence of ice nor does it "ding"

Re:Freezy Freakies

[h4rr4r]

There is a reason they are not found in Northern areas. Snowplows would tear them right off. Also they would be totally useless when snow covers them.

Re:Freezy Freakies

[kannibal_klown]

I think the point of the glow-in-the-dark "snowflake" is for when conditions are icy... without the snow on the ground. Obviously, if snow is on the ground... that's enough warning for "there may be ice"

It happens a fair amount in certain areas: either with freezing rain, 40F rain during the day following by an evening of 28F temperatures. I imagine the mild-afternoon w/ rain followed by the freezing evening is the bigger issue as a person might think that it's still too warm for ice based on the mild temperatures during their lunch break.

Here in NJ it happens quite a bit, which is of course "fun" when people don't realize it and skid through traffic lights into the middle of an intersection of drive into someone's lawn because they went too fast on a curve.

Re:Freezy Freakies

[der_joachim]

Please note that in the Netherlands, it rarely snows more than a few centimeters. Most of that snow is tackled by road salt. Furthermore, what does happen, is rain or sleet freezing up the roads, resulting in black ice which is almost invisible in the dark. Normally, I shun warning labels instead of prudent driving, but this idea is IMHO pretty nifty.

Re:Or....

[bmajik]

Your car actually doesn't do this in a sufficient sense.

When a road surface is rainy or icy, braking and steering response suffer the most. Acceleration is impacted somewhat.

A common scenario here in North Dakota is that you set your cruise control and are moving along. Everything "feels fine". You go to change lanes or hit the brakes and you realize you are on a low-grip surface. If you know how to handle it you can sometimes make it ok. If you don't, you're in the ditch.

Your car can tell if a wheel starts to spin when under acceleration. But acceleration is the least impacted vehicle input in poor road conditions.

Your car can tell if the motion vector exceeds a certain threshhold and isn't lining up with the steering angle sensor (e.g. a slide is happening)

What your car cannot tell you is that the road conditions have degraded to the point that you need to slow down, and to what speed, to have proper turning and braking capability. All your car can do is respond to loss-of-grip situations that have already happened.

When I drive in unknown conditions I will frequently oscillate the steering wheel and feel how much resistance there is. Less resistance suggests less grip. I'll also ease on to the brake pedal to see if I can induce ABS, to help me understand where the braking limit is.

(Remember, this is north dakota, so there's no one else around for me to upset or scare when I do this stuff :))

I run snow tires on all my winter-driven vehicles. I cannot tell you the number of times I've been driving along the interstate, everything has been fine, and I come over a crest, and there are vehicles in the ditch everywhere. I provide test brake/steering inputs and there is _very little_ grip to be had. Anything other than the slightest/slowest input provokes loss-of-grip. And this is on proper snow tires. The people with bald all-seasons are in the ditch for a reason..

A current car simply can't detect that until you're already sliding/skidding/spinning tires. At which point, it may be too late for the car to recover on a low-grip surface.

I-64 has had something like this for years

[drcln]

In the U.S. state of Virginia, Interstate 64 runs east–west through the middle of the state from West Virginia to the Hampton Roads region, a total of 298 miles (480 km). It is notable for crossing the mouth of the harbor of Hampton Roads on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, the first bridge-tunnel to incorporate man-made islands. Also noteworthy is a section through Rockfish Gap, a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which was equipped with an innovative system of airport-style runway lighting embedded into the pavement to aid motorists during periods of poor visibility due to fog or other conditions.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_64_in_Virginia

A lighting system within the pavement to help designate lanes automatically activated by fog sensors was installed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to improve safety during such weather conditions.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockfish_Gap

Re:Inductive field

[h4rr4r]

What potential health impacts?

This is not ionizing, nor are you going to generate a lethal current in a human body. Go away nutter.

Re:Very little incentive to innovate

[h4rr4r]

While this might hold true in the USA, it is not universal.

This is why Americans should travel more. For one I think all Americans should try driving on some nice German roads. Maybe we could start building them here.

hand-holding idiocy

[slashmydots]

I live in Wisconsin. We have a nickname for anyone whose car goes in the ditch on the highway during a big snowstorm: morons. It's always some piece of crap minivan or Saturn Ion or Pontiac of some sort. The driver is always in a hurry or forgot that 4 wheel drive doesn't do anything for stopping and tada, ditch. Last major snowstorm there was approx 1 car in the ditch every 1.5 miles. No amount of sparkly snowflakes on the road will keep people that stupid from driving that stupidly, trust me. They're just idiots who will never learn their lesson. They're all Wisconsin plates too so don't go thinking it's someone from Texas or something who's never seen snow because those people are smart enough to stay home.
This idea would be a giant waste of time and money and not benefit anyone.

Re:Very little incentive to innovate

[Reemi]

Some governments consider roads as critical for their competitive position. Without a good road-network, the Netherlands would loose their position as transport country and the work generated by the Rotterdam Harbor would dry up.

Accidents cause road-blocks which cause traffic jams. Hundreds of people in traffic jams idling costs enormous amounts of lost productivity and is bad for GDP.

With a social system ensuring everybody for health-case and a decent life standard when not able to work, avoiding accidents becomes an economical question.

I'm not stating the government does take all this into account, but at least the importance of a good and safe road-network for the whole country is understood.

Note, roads are not only there for those driving a car. Even if you do your groceries walking, ask yourself how your food ended up at the store. Ask yourself how the Ambulance managed to come to you when you need it.

Re:Very little incentive to innovate

[drainbramage]

We could build German roads in the U.S. but the cost to then ship those roads to Germany would be prohibitive.
YMMV