Flashing cats eyes

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Fri 6 Jan 2006 12:32
Flashing cats eyes - Haardvark
Have noticed recently some odd cats eyes on a small DC section of the A339 between Newbury and Basingstoke. They seem to contain flashing white led lights. The effect is quite mesmerising as you drive past them in the dark. Anyone know anything about them?

Cheers

HV
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 12:45
Flashing cats eyes - daveyjp
A446 from A38 to M42 HAD them! Most of them appear to have been dislodged in a very short space of time.
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 12:53
Flashing cats eyes - AngryJonny
The ones on the A446 never flashed - they were just illuminated. It was disconcerting to still be able to see them in your peripheral vision as you drove past. They were good though - they illuminated the road well. I can imagine that flashing ones would be even disconcerting however.
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 13:22
Flashing cats eyes - Haardvark
The ones on the A446 never flashed - they were just
illuminated. It was disconcerting to still be able to see them
in your peripheral vision as you drove past. They were good
though - they illuminated the road well. I can imagine that
flashing ones would be even disconcerting however.


Well, I'm not actually sure that they flash, but the effect as you drive past them is that there is movement of the lights, as if they are flashing in sequence. I think it may just be an effect of having them visible in the periphery, as you say.
I would say that they are very effective (visible), but distracting too. You become aware of them as you start to pass them and it does distract from the road ahead. Presumably they are installed in this place to concentrate the mind on the road ahead, not the road you are passing!!
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 13:36
Flashing cats eyes - L'escargot
Reflectolites?

reflecto.co.uk/products_active.html
--
L\'escargot.
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 14:27
Flashing cats eyes - Haardvark
Reflectolites?
reflecto.co.uk/products_active.html
--
L\'escargot.


Thanks, could be. Curiosity dictates that I will probably stop there at some point and risk life and limb to find out! ;o)
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 17:55
Flashing cats eyes - Steve Pearce
Thanks, could be. Curiosity dictates that I will probably stop
there at some point and risk life and limb to find
out! ;o)


I wouldn't if I would you, that stretch of road is deathtrap as it is.
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 16:33
Flashing cats eyes - J Bonington Jagworth
I see it says they're 'flicker-free' which is obviously not the case!

Given the rotten performance of the little solar powered garden lights you can buy, I shall be interested to learn of the running cost of these things. We've had some for less than a year nearby and already they are running out of puff after a few hours in the winter (when there is little solar energy to charge them and an early light-up time). They look nice, but are high-maintenance compared to Percy Shaw's original design.
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 16:57
Flashing cats eyes - pmh
These could become the 'must have' for every student house!

Be great for the garden.


--

pmh (was peter)


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Fri 6 Jan 2006 17:15
Flashing cats eyes - arnold2
Luxury - try driving through Bosnia - no cat's eyes, no white lines on the side of the road, huge potholes .... !
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 17:28
Flashing cats eyes - Armitage Shanks {p}
Lets hope that, whatever they are, they don't work too well. Stage 2 is going to be cats eyes with "Safety Cameras" in them and we don't want that do we?
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Fri 6 Jan 2006 20:23
Flashing cats eyes - Bill Payer
IIRC they're by www.astucia.co.uk
(and they can do 'em with cameras in!).
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Sat 7 Jan 2006 19:42
Flashing cats eyes - J Bonington Jagworth
Sounds to me like a poor excuse to charge councils (i.e. us) a lot of extra money (and maintenance fees) to do something they already know how to do very cheaply. "Solar powered road delineation" indeed!

The only problem with basic cats-eyes is that after a decade or so, they get a bit scuffed up and need new reflectors, by which time the new ones will have died and been replaced over and over...
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Sat 7 Jan 2006 19:45
Flashing cats eyes - J Bonington Jagworth
"Be great for the garden"

If you've bought any solar powered marker lights, you will know that they hardly work at all in the winter, i.e. when you need them most...
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Sat 7 Jan 2006 21:04
Flashing cats eyes - Adam {P}
Ours haven't lit up for months. Long before the clocks went back. I was all for ripping them up thinking they were knackered but after reading these comments I assume they'll magically work again in spring.
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