If you've ever driven on British roads, or in many other countries around the world, you may have noticed small reflective devices embedded into the surface of the road. These devices are known as "cat's eyes," and they have been an important safety feature of British roads for over 80 years.
The story of cat's eyes begins in the 1930s when a Yorkshireman (a person from the area of Yorkshire in England) named Percy Shaw was driving home from a pub on a foggy night. As he made his way down a winding road, his headlights reflected off the eyes of a cat, which he thought was a human walking on the side of the road. This experience gave Shaw the idea of creating a device that could guide drivers safely along the road, even in poor visibility conditions.
Shaw's invention was a small, rubber device that was embedded into the surface of the road. It was made up of two special glass spheres, which reflected light back to the driver. The device was given the name cat's eye because of its resemblance to the eyes of a cat.
Photo of original design
The first cat's eyes were installed on a road near Shaw's factory in Halifax on this day 29th April 1934. They were an immediate success, and soon, other local authorities began to install them on their roads. The government also took notice of the new invention and began to install cat's eyes on major roads throughout the country.
During World War II, production was halted, but after the war, they became an essential part of the post-war rebuilding effort. In 1946, the government passed a law requiring all major roads to have cat's eyes installed on them. By the 1950s, over four million had been installed on British roads.
In the decades that followed, cat's eyes continued to evolve. New materials were developed, such as plastic and ceramic, which made them more durable and cost-effective. They also became more versatile, with different colours and patterns used to mark out lanes, roundabouts, and other road features.
By Zoney - Own work Modification of public domain image by User:Sarah777 on English Wikipedia, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M9Carlow.JPG, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14975143
Today, they are still an essential part of British road infrastructure. They are used not just in the UK, but in countries around the world, and have become an iconic symbol of British road safety.
What started as a simple idea on a foggy night in Yorkshire has become an essential part of road infrastructure around the world, helping to keep drivers safe and guiding them along the road, even in the darkest of nights.
Do you have cats eyes in your country? Let me know in the comments
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