View Full Version : Flashing cat-eyes?!
erik
22nd January 2008, 20:46
Anyone else seen these? I just went for a short ride down Huia road, on the first tight right hand corner there are these flashing cat-eyes on the outside of the road. I haven't ever seen them before, anywhere. Maybe they're there to help you see the road against the blinding reflection of the corner sign? ;)
Subike
22nd January 2008, 20:49
seen them laid in the road in CHCH at a pedestrian crossing just outside the BNZ main bank CBD
xwhatsit
22nd January 2008, 21:04
Yep, I've noticed some in the little piece of road (with some nice long left and right urban corners) that joins Tamaki Drive with the Upland Rd/Orakei Rd roundabout.
Kittyhawk
22nd January 2008, 21:06
You get points if you hit them :laugh:
TOTO
22nd January 2008, 21:29
there is a few in onehunga in some roundabouts coz some people cant stay in one lane on a roundabout. very cool. they shoul all be like this...but sela vi :)
Bren
22nd January 2008, 21:38
Have seen some outside of the CCC Buildings on Tuam St, CHCH....good idea
smoky
22nd January 2008, 21:40
You get points if you hit them :laugh:
If you hit them with your knee down
erik
22nd January 2008, 21:45
there is a few in onehunga in some roundabouts coz some people cant stay in one lane on a roundabout. very cool. they shoul all be like this...but sela vi :)
You like them? I found them quite distracting, it's bad enough that the reflective signs are so bright let alone having flashing lights on the road.
Disco Dan
22nd January 2008, 21:47
Great for teaching people about the perils of target fixation... :whistle:
Usarka
22nd January 2008, 21:55
on the first tight right hand corner there are these flashing cat-eyes on the outside of the road.
Cool. Of course these will be implemented consistently. soon all tight corners will have them, which means if a corner doesn't have them assume you can go fast around it.
safe as.
TOTO
22nd January 2008, 22:36
You like them? I found them quite distracting, it's bad enough that the reflective signs are so bright let alone having flashing lights on the road.
Well i've been riding very short time but I have had quite alot of people cross into my lane on roundabouts so yea , i think it is good at least on roundabouts for people who dont see nothing else. Dont know about distracting, havent stared at them for long time , you may be right. I dont know how i'd feel on long road with them.
Kittyhawk
22nd January 2008, 22:42
If you hit them with your knee down
haha just ask Morcs bout hitting pot holes at a roundabout with knee down!!! Im sure he's game for catseyes:lol:
Drum
22nd January 2008, 22:45
LED pavement markers.
You can also get them with speed detection and camera built in. Or even weigh-in-motion.
That's right a 'road stud' that can give you a speeding or overweight ticket!
Be very afraid.
Aucklanders are likely to see them (the lights - not the cameras) on the southern approach to the Harbour Bridge within the next few years.
bugjuice
22nd January 2008, 22:51
Ngapipa Rd and some nearby ones have them, near Mission Bay. They've been down for over a year now, easy. I thought we would have seen more of them by now. Didn't know they were on Huia Rd, but then again, haven't been that way for yonks
Pixie
22nd January 2008, 23:09
Some were installed on the way to Snells beach ,many were pinched within weeks of them being placed.
these were solar powered and cost $70 each
ambler
23rd January 2008, 00:50
These were all over the place in japan, not as cat-eyes on the road but they were put along the top of the barriers around curves. They are good for letting you know something is there to be aware of, but I found them hopeless as guides to show you how the road goes. The reason being that the flashing on and off stops your brain/stereoscopic vision from judging the distance well. You really need to have a solid light to focus on and measure the speed you are approaching at, but with these things as soon as your eyes and brain start to do that, it disappears. Then next time it shows up you are another 10 metres closer, and with many of these lights flashing you lose track of which one it even was.
Big Dog
23rd January 2008, 00:52
Great for teaching people about the perils of target fixation... :whistle:
Is that the voice of experience?
Big Dog
23rd January 2008, 00:53
These were all over the place in japan, not as cat-eyes on the road but they were put along the top of the barriers around curves. They are good for letting you know something is there to be aware of, but I found them hopeless as guides to show you how the road goes. The reason being that the flashing on and off stops your brain/stereoscopic vision from judging the distance well. You really need to have a solid light to focus on and measure the speed you are approaching at, but with these things as soon as your eyes and brain start to do that, it disappears. Then next time it shows up you are another 10 metres closer, and with many of these lights flashing you lose track of which one it even was.
My bigger concern is how will it affect epileptics who have a license?
Forest
23rd January 2008, 01:34
Some were installed on the way to Snells beach ,many were pinched within weeks of them being placed.
these were solar powered and cost $70 each
The ones I've seen are inductively powered from an induction loop that is laid underneath the road surface.
I think they're a very cool application of super-bright LED technology, and I believe the system was invented here in NZ by a couple of engineering students. I also think they were first deployed in the Victoria tunnel in Wellington, but my memory is a bit hazy.
skidMark
23rd January 2008, 01:38
Yep, I've noticed some in the little piece of road (with some nice long left and right urban corners) that joins Tamaki Drive with the Upland Rd/Orakei Rd roundabout.
i know where ya mean
be careful through there dude encountered many a boy racer fucking up and running wide through there...
spun out in my car there once...mind u we were doing handbrake turns.:devil2:
Morcs
23rd January 2008, 06:15
haha just ask Morcs bout hitting pot holes at a roundabout with knee down!!! Im sure he's game for catseyes:lol:
If you hit them with your knee down
Catseyes and knees arent a good mix.
They hurt. A lot.
Number One
23rd January 2008, 06:29
I believe the system was invented here in NZ by a couple of engineering students.
More Kooowi ingenuity :Punk:
Qkchk
23rd January 2008, 07:04
Been installed @ Royal Oak roundabout for Pedestrian Safety for nearly 2 years now............ See old Thread (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=39850&highlight=royal+oak)
Usarka
23rd January 2008, 07:10
It is quite hard to see people about to cross what with all those railings, the zebra crossing, the raised traffic island and the yellow poles.
Once people get used to the flashing led's they'll have to think of something else.
Maybe a big neon arrow above the crossing that lights up and points when someones using it.
Kittyhawk
23rd January 2008, 12:46
Catseyes and knees arent a good mix.
They hurt. A lot.
You wernt ment to see this post :nono:
PrincessBandit
23rd January 2008, 13:12
Been installed @ Royal Oak roundabout for Pedestrian Safety for nearly 2 years now............ See old Thread (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=39850&highlight=royal+oak)
Must go and check them out - never seen any before in my life. I hate even different coloured lights on cars etc. so I don't think I'd cope with flashing ones! Maybe if I just shut my eyes whenever I see them......:whistle: Then again, maybe not.
ManDownUnder
23rd January 2008, 13:33
I know the guy that worked on them (still is...) and he is NOT a University student.
They are installing them globally (the Swiss and other Europeans) are picking them up like mad and they're very very clever little doohickies. They can flash (yes) but also do sequencing which is all hum drum till you consider a couple of applications (for which they are very very popular).
Safety in a tunnel fire. Smoke everywhere from an accident - a fire or whatever is consuming oxygen pronto, and you have to leg it out of a long tunnel... where the nearest exit? (Oooo look the lights are telling me something - "go this way Luke... feel the force")
Also good to indicate upcoming issues (Flashing in an "agressive" pattern) etc.
Very very clever overall... and yes Kiwi made... selling them to the world.
The Pastor
23rd January 2008, 15:17
they have speed cameras in them. go spraypaint one today!
ManDownUnder
23rd January 2008, 15:20
Is that the voice of experience?
... at Disco corner...?
Big Dog
23rd January 2008, 15:47
... at Disco corner...?
Did not know they had flashing lights there but I guess the way the story was related that would have been a target fixation issue.
The main problem I have with flashing lights is that when they are fast enough I find my self migrating toward them even if I am not looking at them. Unless I consciously decide to manage it.
Dargor
23rd January 2008, 16:04
Oh shit!! soon they'll have pop up advertising too.
This is a terrible idea. There is no way the safety benifiets can outway the cost of my tax dollars. If you need flashing light to help you drive safely you shouldnt be on the road.
Kittyhawk
23rd January 2008, 16:14
... at Disco corner...?
Lights are always flashing around where there's a Disco...
Hmm lets see......
Mount the disco
Theres Disco corner
How about when Dicso got lost with a nice new GPS - didnt know how to get into a carpark, when he finally found his way in, not long after said "how do I get out" When the suggestion was made to "use your GPS that's what its for" I ended up loosing it!!!
Oh, and theres Discodisco:buggerd:
Morcs
23rd January 2008, 17:12
You wernt ment to see this post :nono:
Yeah but im so vain I search my username everytime I log in :D
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