How Road Reflectors at Night Improve Visibility and Reduce Accidents?

DATE:2025-03-07

When night falls, the lack of light greatly restricts the driver's field of vision and significantly increases the risk of road accidents. According to statistics, nighttime accidents account for many traffic accidents throughout the year, causing heartbreaking casualties and property damage. Improving road safety at night is urgent, and road reflectors play a key role.

Different Types of Road Studs

1. Reflective road studs

Reflective road studs are made of internal glass beads or reflective lattice sheets and other special materials, using the light refraction and total reflection principle and accurate reflection of vehicle headlights. When the light is irradiated, the glass beads make the light reflected to the driver's eyes nearly parallel after many times of refraction so that the road studs are visible at night. On the highway, it is neatly arranged at the edge and center of the lane, dividing the lanes and guiding the vehicles to drive in an orderly manner; at the traffic circle, it is set around the edge to assist the drivers in judging the direction and reducing the collision; at the intersection guide line position, it is uniquely arranged to guide the vehicles to drive by the specified routes to enhance the efficiency of the passage.

2.Non-reflective Road stud

Non-reflective road studs are designed to provide tactile guidance for the visually impaired. The top surface has a smooth stainless steel type and an aluminum texture type. Visually impaired people can identify the direction through the sense of touch under the feet; the stainless steel top surface is smooth to the touch, and the aluminum textured top surface has more obvious tactile feedback. In the pedestrian crossing, the two ends are set up densely to remind the visually impaired people to enter or leave soon; the middle is arranged according to the spacing to ensure that they continue to get guidance when passing through and need to be coordinated with signal lights, blind alleys, and other peripheral transportation facilities to ensure travel safety.

3.Solar Road stud

During the day, the solar panels on top of the solar road studs absorb light energy and turn it into electricity stored in the battery; at night, the battery drives the road studs' light. It's environmentally protective and energy-saving, with low installation and maintenance costs. In remote rural highways without street lights and other long-distance roads without lighting, it can provide up to 900 meters of clear vision and help drivers to understand the road conditions in advance to avoid the poor line of sight caused by deviation or collision accidents, compared with the reliance on vehicle headlights and reflective studs outstanding advantages.

4.LED Road stud

LED road studs on top of the solar panel daytime charging, night battery for the LED lights powered light. Through the photosensitive sensors and intelligent control circuit, the ambient light automatically adjusts the brightness. Urban commercial street night traffic, complex light; it can automatically adjust to a higher brightness, highlighting the road outline; school around the safety of students can also be set to blinking mode to enhance road recognition and safety.

5. Aluminum road studs

Aluminum gives the stud strong, durable, corrosion-resistant, and lightweight characteristics. In the highway, city roads, and other high-traffic sections, it can withstand frequent crushing of vehicles for many years to maintain a good reflective and warning effect. For example, a city trunk road, a large number of vehicles, and aluminum road studs, after many years of use, are still stable in performance to ensure that the high-flow traffic continues to play a role.

6. Ceramic road stud

Ceramic road studs have a ceramic or glass shell and internal reflective materials, relying on the shell to refract the centralized reflection of light. Different brands have different internal materials and shell design differences; the reflective effect is different. But the ceramic material is more brittle, subject to large external forces, and easy to rupture and damage, so it is more suitable for the low-flow and aesthetic requirements of the scenic area of the internal road; its appearance can be fused with the surrounding environment to meet the basic road marking needs.

Cat's-eye road reflector working principle

1. Reflective surface fine structure

The glass or plastic reflective lens on the top of the cat's-eye road reflector has special curvature and texture, and part of it adopts the micro-prism structure, which can converge and reflect the light and enhance the reflective effect. Microscopic pictures show that the micro-prism structure can concentrate and reflect the light to form a bright spot and improve visibility at night.

2. Light reflection dynamic process

When the vehicle's headlights irradiate the cat's eye, the light enters the lens. After many refractions and reflections, depending on the angle determined by the material and the curvature of the lens, the light will eventually be reflected to the driver almost parallel to the direction of the incident light. Although there is a propagation loss of light, there is a reasonable design to ensure that enough light returns so that it is visible at night.

3. Enhance visibility significantly.

Night driving, cat's eyes in the curves can outline, help drivers slow down in advance to steer; potholes can attract attention to avoid damage to the vehicle, become an important guide for drivers to perceive the road conditions, and improve driving safety.

Why Road Reflectors at Night are Crucial for Road Safety?

1. Make up for the lack of lighting

In remote rural roads, due to economic conditions and geographic limitations, there is often a lack of perfect street lighting facilities. The same problem exists on newly built roads without perfect lighting facilities. On these roads, reflectors become the main auxiliary means for drivers to obtain road information. Through actual measurements, without reflectors, the driver's visible distance at night is only about 30 meters, but after the installation of reflectors, the visible distance can be expanded to more than 100 meters. This greatly improves the driver's ability to anticipate road conditions and reduces the risk of accidents caused by poor visibility.

2. Adverse weather assistance

Foggy days are characterized by severe light scattering, which greatly affects the driver's line of sight. On rainy days, the road surface will form a water film, resulting in light reflections that are disorganized and interfere with the driver's line of sight. Reflectors, with their unique optical design, can penetrate poor visibility in these inclement weather conditions. For example, some reflectors are designed with a special reflective angle that reduces the scattering of light in fog, allowing the reflected light to be more centrally directed back to the driver's eyes. According to accident statistics, the number of accidents caused by blurred vision in foggy and rainy weather is reduced by 35%, and the severity of accidents is significantly reduced on road sections where high-quality reflectors are installed, in which reflectors play a key role.

3. Guiding the right driving path

On roads with high traffic flow and unclear road markings, such as those in some old urban areas, the phenomenon of vehicles intertwining is serious. The situation of multi-forked roads is more complicated, and drivers can easily lose their way. Reflectors can guide drivers to keep the correct driving path through reasonable layout and unique markings. At a fork in the road, through the installation of different colors and shapes of reflectors, clear driving routes in all directions, and the traffic monitoring data statistics, the intersection was due to drivers taking the wrong route to reduce the incidence of accidents caused by 45%.

How Road Reflectors at Night Help Prevent Accidents?

1. Improve visibility at night and in bad weather

At night and in inclement weather, poor lighting and changes in the air medium are the main factors limiting drivers' visibility. Insufficient light makes it difficult to distinguish road details, and changes in air media, such as tiny water droplets on foggy days and water vapor on rainy days, scatter and absorb light, further reducing visibility. The main types of accident risks arising from this include vehicle lane departure, rear-end collisions, and collisions with roadside obstacles. Through field tests and driver feedback, drivers' recognition of the road was significantly improved after the installation of reflective road studs. Before the installation of reflective road studs on a certain road section, three accidents occurred every month due to unclear vision, but after the installation, the number of accidents was reduced to one per month, significantly reducing the accident rate.

2. Strengthening the visual warning of dangerous road sections

The causes of accidents on dangerous roads, such as sharp turns, steep slopes, and intersections, are complex. In the sharp turn, the speed is too fast, easily leading to loss of control of the vehicle; steep slopes, the vehicle braking distance increases; if the driver does not have enough judgment, it is easy to rear-end accidents; intersections, the vehicle intersection is frequent, the vision blind spot, and easy to collision accidents. Reflective studs in these dangerous sections of the road to warn drivers of the effectiveness of the fully verified. Through the accident simulation experiment, in the set reflective pavement stud sharp turn, the average reaction time of the driver is advanced by 2 seconds, the response measures are more timely, and the accident rate is reduced by 30%.

3. Guiding the correct driving trajectory

Complicated situations such as heavy traffic flow, worn road markings, and temporary traffic control seriously interfere with driving trajectories. When the road markings are worn out, it is difficult for drivers to judge accurately the location of lanes, and it is easy for them to deviate from the lanes. During temporary traffic control, if there is no clear guidance, vehicles are prone to interweaving and congestion, increasing the potential risk of accidents. Through traffic flow modeling and field observation data, road studs can accurately mark lanes and turning routes through distribution locations. In a road section where the road markings are seriously worn out, after the installation of road studs, the driving trajectory of vehicles is more standardized, and the number of lane deviation accidents is reduced by 40%, which effectively reduces the risk of accidents.

4. Instant feedback for emergencies

Emergency stop zones, speed bumps, highway ramps, and toll stations are areas with dense vehicles and large speed changes. In the emergency stopping zone, vehicles suddenly stop; if there is no obvious sign, the rear vehicles are easy to tailgate. Deceleration zone: if not conspicuous, the driver cannot slow down in time, which will cause damage to the vehicle. At highway ramps and toll booths, vehicles need to change lanes and slow down frequently, and there is an urgent need for immediate feedback to drivers. For example, in a high-speed ramp, after the installation of reflective studs, drivers can detect the location of the ramp 30 meters in advance and adjust the speed and direction promptly to avoid accidents due to confusion and effectively protect the safety of driving in the region.

Road Reflectors at Night Help Prevent Accidents

What Does a Raised Pavement Marker Help With—Uses of Road Studs?

1.Delineate lanes

Plastic road studs are distinctive in color, have good reflection, have a white lane with the same direction, and have yellow to distinguish the opposite lane. In the main road of the city with large traffic flow, it reduces the disputes and congestion phenomenon. Before the installation of a road section, the average number of accidents due to unknown lanes was 5 per month, but after the installation, it was reduced to 1, which significantly reduced the rate of vehicle collision and scraping accidents.

2.Warning of road changes

In the road turns, gradient, and width changes, the road stud sets up norms. The spacing at turns is reduced to 1-2 meters, the height is adjusted, and yellow, orange, and other eye-catching colors are used. The driver receives the warning and adjusts the speed and direction in advance. Accident simulation shows that the incidence of emergency braking and loss of control accidents caused by unexpected road conditions is reduced by 40% on curves with standardized road studs.

3. Highlighting road hazards

Dangerous road studs have innovative designs, such as special triangular and diamond shapes, equipped with flashing lights and fluorescent materials. After a construction section is equipped with flashing lights, drivers can discover the construction area 50 meters in advance and avoid it in time to avoid vehicle damage and casualties.

4. Enhance the visibility of road markings at night

New reflective materials to enhance the performance of road studs, nano-reflective materials with high reflectivity, and intelligent color-changing materials with the ambient light color change. Under bad weather, special waterproof and anti-fog coating keeps the visibility of road studs. The actual test showed that the special treatment of road studs in bad weather visibility distance increased by 20 meters compared to ordinary studs.

Conclusion

Different types of road reflectors have their advantages, and together, they build a nighttime road safety system to enhance visibility, warn of danger, guide the driving trajectory, and significantly reduce the accident rate. Aluminum or high-quality plastic road studs are available for urban roads; solar road studs are appropriate for rural roads; more warning road studs are needed for mountain roads. At the same time, road studs should be cleaned, inspected, and replaced regularly to ensure their continued effectiveness.

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Different Types of Road Studs & Their Uses 2025-03-08