First Glow-In-the-Dark Road Debuts In Netherlands

An anonymous reader writes "A 500 meter (0.3 mile) stretch of road in the Netherlands has opened without the standard crop of streetlights lining its perimeter. The streetlights are believed to be unnecessary since the road markings were painted on with a mix of photo-luminescent powder, which absorbs sunlight during the day and radiates a portion of that energy back at night. Whether the modified road paint can withstand harsh weather or even provide sufficient lighting given insufficient exposure to sunlight during the day remains to be seen. The project was orchestrated by Studio Roosegaarde, which in the future plans to implement weather-sensitive road markings that would inform drivers when outside temperatures drop or rise above certain levels."

Comments

waitwhat

[Johann Lau]

I started imagining this Route 66 of the future where technology jumps out of the computer screen and becomes part of us.

You took too much, man...

Useless

[PPH]

We already have retroreflective paints. Road markings and signs illuminated by headlights are clearly visible. On the other hand, some things (like animals and pedestrians) require some means of illumination at night. Streetlights are OK, but headlights are better. An animal or other obstruction will only appear as a shadow against a glowing roadway.

Re:Useless

[Travis Mansbridge]

Yes, but today we are talking about driving.

Re:Useless

[Anonymous Coward]

Reflective paints are fine if you're driving at very moderate speeds. If you're driving with higher speeds on a long stretch of highway with oncoming traffic that potentially blinds you and doesn't allow you to use your high beam, it really helps if you can see the road stretch out in front of you and not just the short stretch illuminated by your low beam. It also builds confidence that you're not missing an unexpected turn and end up besides the road. Confidence is very important in safe driving, people that are not confident about their current situation on the road tend to do all kinds of unexpected maneuvers that can end badly.

Of course, there are roadside reflectors that could do roughly the same job, but their usage is often very inconsistent and often they're too dirty to be of any use. Roadside reflectors are also hard to clean (every reflector needs to be cleaned individually), whereas those lines could be cleaned alongside with the rest of the road.

Re:Useless

[Anonymous Coward]

Well , just paint the animals with reflective color, too. How hard is that ? C'mon man, some common sense.

Re:Useless

[reboot246]

You can drive when the moon is out, especially when there's a full moon. I've done it on lonely stretches of road. Just turn off the headlights and you can see pretty much everything you need to see. Of course you can't do it when there are other vehicles out and about.

Re:Useless

[physicsphairy]

Maybe it's not the best for inner city roads, but on long highway stretches it would be awfully nice to be able to see the road far ahead. Especially on road with hills and curves, headlights do a fairly bad job of lighting up that reflective paint (other than what's immediately ahead) because often your car is not oriented so as to illuminate it.

Re:Useless

[Anonymous Coward]

Idiot. You'll have to repaint them every time they moult or breed.

Genetically engineer them to glow in the dark and they'll reproduce themselves.

Re:Useless

[rtb61]

Meh, I driven down thousands of kilometres of unlighted roadway, even unpaved roads, dodging roos and wombats like most Europeans would dodge rabbits. Simply adjust road speed to conditions. Road side illumination should be generally restricted to built up areas and be more about restricting nefarious activities rather than traffic safety.

Re:Useless

[Woek]

First, this allows you to see how the road curves very far ahead, and without using the high beams. It works much better then reflective paint.

Second, this is not painted on the road, it is a special strip that is embedded in the road surface. They can also send a tiny bit of current through it to intensify the glow, which is especially useful in winters. It essentially cuts the energy requirement with a factor of a few million (a number which I just made up).

Disclaimer: I live in the Netherlands

Re:Useless

[AmiMoJo]

There is a lot of important stuff you can't see by moonlight alone. Animals, for example, tend to evolve to be hard to see. At least with headlights there is a chance you will see the light reflecting from their eyes, or their shape against the background.

Re:Useless

[AmiMoJo]

This paint isn't retroreflective, it actually emits light. Good to see the road layout as it enters a bend from some distance away, and the exit to the bend where you headlights aren't pointing.

Re:Useless

[mjr167]

I'm not sure what this obsession with street lights is... We don't have street lights where I live and it's nice. We somehow manage to not run over children and animals, though the deer do occasionally hit cars. Stupid deer dashing out of the woods and running into cars... (cars never hit deer, the deer always hits the car).

As a result we can look up and see the sky at night and we don't have street lights shining into our houses in the middle of the night.

Re:Useless

[mcvos]

I can see just fine by the faint yellow haze that hangs over my city at night.

Nature

[tsa]

Most animals and plants who live alongside the roads will love this. Finally they can sleep in the dark!

Re:Useless for Electricity shills

[DarwinSurvivor]

All the "pictures" in TFA are computer renderings. For a road that, apparently, has already been painted you'd think they could have taken at least 1 photo of it.

eight hours isn't very long

[SimonInOz]

I used to live in the Netherlands, and I can confirm winters are cold and dark. Days are not very bright either. So an eight hour life (yes, I RTFA) for these very cool glowing roads is not going to cut it - nights comprise 16 hours of darkness in midwinter.
It should work well in the summer, when days are brighter and nights shorter.

But I think a backup is required, destroying the whole point.

But it does look very cool, doesn't it?

Re:eight hours isn't very long

[91degrees]

Most night driving is between sunset and midnight though. For the morning hours, this isn't going to help, but cars do still have headlights so we're no worse off than before.

Video of the road

[Anonymous Coward]

Just found a video on dutch TV
http://nos.nl/video/634091-eerste-autoweg-met-glowing-lines.html

Just use headlights

[Gavagai80]

Those of us who don't live in cities have been driving fine at night without streetlights forever. No special paint needed. Cars have headlights.

Re:Just use headlights

[Mashiki]

Those of us who don't live in cities have been driving fine at night without streetlights forever. No special paint needed. Cars have headlights.

I'm guessing you don't actually live anywhere that has serious wear and tear on their roads, otherwise you'd know that by the time half the winter is over that the paint is already worn down to the point where it's useless. And of course, if it's raining good luck on seeing those lines at all. Luckily HID lamps have helped with this, but don't get stuck driving on any Canadian highway anywhere between the months of: January(sometimes if it's really bad, this can hit as early as early November) through June when there is: Snow, rain, slush, mud, slop, dirt, or less than 50% sunlight.

And don't count on the shoulders to be a guide, because we don't really use them in most cases. Though if you're driving on a major highway like the 400 series(401,402,403,etc), some parts of the Trans-Canada, and a few other busy highways, we do have rumble strips.

video of the road

[Anonymous Coward]

there is a video of the road on dutch television. video of the road
It does look quite nice!

Maybe that's intresting trivia to you...

[bickerdyke]

...but the "Autobahn" in Germany never had any kind of electrical lighting (besides retroreflecting paint for the road markings) and even at night large parts of it are considered save enough to not have speed limits - even at night!

Re:Useless - rather make better headlamps

[Anonymous Coward]

Right. Also, this cant work on overcast days . I really don't see the point of it . I'd say they'd rather invest that effort on headlight technology

If needed, it can be powered through electricity according to the Dutch news source.

Re:wile e. coyote will love this

[91degrees]

Thisis The Netherlands... I don't think they have rock faces. Or hills. Or topology generally.

Re:Useless for Electricity shills

[Anonymous Coward]

The Dutch article (http://nos.nl/audio/634119-het-lijkt-alsof-je-door-een-sprookjesbos-rijdt.html) has a low-res picture of it. The thing looks like a video, but is actually an audio fragment, but the picture is an actual picture of the 500m stretch of road.

Stealth Mode?

[SuperKendall]

Oh, wait, humans can actually see by starlight alone.

Not if you have headlights on, are you supposed to turn them off when you hit this stretch of road? And park for about fifteen minutes to dark adapt?

Re:Useless for Electricity shills

[Anonymous Coward]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bk4mNfMIEAAkefo.jpg

I don't think it's actually in use yet. It's still being set up.

Re:Useless - rather make better headlamps

[aardvarkjoe]

If needed, it can be powered through electricity according to the Dutch news source.

Perhaps by placing a lamp above the road...