Solar LED road studs use stored solar energy to increase road visibility at night by a factor of ten.
The shorter daytime and longer dark time, as well as the harsh winter weather, particularly emphasized the necessity of road contours to show the driver where the next road is. The first to be certified by the Ministry of Transport was a LED road stud developed by a British company. Compared with the traditional reflective "cat's eye", the visibility has been greatly improved, thereby greatly improving driving safety.
Solar LED road studs store solar energy during the day, and then the built-in light-emitting diodes automatically illuminate from dusk to dawn, providing the driver with a view of up to 900 meters. This is ten times that of traditional passive road studs, which rely on headlamp lighting close to the vehicle. The maximum effective range is 90 meters.
When driving at a speed of 60 mph, the LED road marker improves the field of view and extends the driver's reaction time from 3.2 seconds to over 30 seconds. Currently, such LED road stud are used in about 120 locations in the United Kingdom. Since the installation of solar LED road stud, many local authorities have reported that nighttime accidents have been reduced by more than 70%. Research conducted by the Transportation Research Laboratory also showed that when using led road marker, the driver is also less likely to cross the white line in the center of the road or drive out of the lane on the two-lane lane. They can also brake earlier and more consistently.
The large number of visual references also means that the driver often does not accelerate into the curve. In addition, for cyclists and motorcyclists, flush mounting solar road studs are also safer. All of these have contributed to increasing driving safety.
The latest solar led road studs have reduced casualties on roads and are expected to have a service life of eight to ten years, while traditional reflective studs have a service life of only one or two years. Therefore, the price of led road studs will not be higher than the traditional cat's eye throughout the entire service life. The efficiency of these devices can also reduce the use of energy and maintenance-intensive, low-carbon efficiency street lights.