wildbill@ucbvax.UUCP (William J. Laubenheimer) (04/22/84)
> And the lines on roads should be small reflectors (like they have in England) > that 1) do not get worn off in six months > 2) are very visible at night > 3) are called cat's eyes to avoid confusion. > Peter Fry > drux3!pcf A couple of points here. First, this practice is also common in warm-weather areas in the United States. I have noticed it in California and Texas. There seem to be two different models: one that is placed in holes in the road surface, and another that is glued on top and makes a nice rumbling sound when you drift out of your lane, a great convenience if you're out late at night. As to why these are not prevalent in your neck of the woods, consider what would happen after the first major snowstorm, when the plows are sent out. The first model promptly gets covered with ice, and the second one just gets scraped off. This is why the California Department of Transportation doesn't bother installing them above 2000'. Second, calling them cat's eyes will just create confusion. Cat's eyes are the things mounted on posts alongside the road that let you know which way the road is turning. Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy WAS here! ucbvax!wildbill
simpers@ucbvax.UUCP (Scott Simpers) (04/22/84)
The things on posts at the sides of the road are Cat's Eyes. The bumps that are installed on some highways to let you know when you are wandering are called "Bott's dots", named after the inventor, I believe. Scott
ed@unisoft.UUCP (04/22/84)
Botts Dots have also been called "lump bumps", but I think that's purely colloquial. -- Ed Gould ucbvax!mtxinu!ed
pcf@drux3.UUCP (FryPC) (04/23/84)
Sorry!
In England (long live St. George) the things down the middle of the road
are called cat's eyes. Their use started during the war so that you could
see where the road was with no street lights. A wonderful idea.
(I should have put a :-) on 'to avoid confusion' to avoid confusion.)
As to snowplows ripping them up, any competent designer should be able to
solve that problem. Why I could do it myself, given around $250,000 for
research. ("Although it is not clear from the original application why
the research had to be done in the south of France" :-).)
"Anyone for Dragonburger?"
Peter Fry
drux3!pcfron@brl-vgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (05/02/84)
I don't know. We always called them braille lane markers. -Ron
jonl@sun.uucp (Jon Lancaster) (05/04/84)
We always called them road turtles.... Jon