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Imagine a fast road, illuminated by a
continuous strip of softly glowing
lights along its edge.
In the
dead of night, all the lights would be
off. As a car drives along the road,
the lights illuminate a 50-metre
stretch of road in front of the car.
When the road is busier, the lights
are pulsed, rather like the more
horrible type of Chistmas
illumination, to give moving pulses of
light travelling down the road at the
speed limit, separated by the safe
braking distance.
Traffic
control could be effected by, in an
emergency having each moving pulse
of light 'lock on' to the nearest car.
As a driver, you would sense the light
pulse tracking your every change in
speed. Then, to slow you down
because of an accident ahead, for
example, the pulse of light would
begin to slow down - if enough
people slowed down then traffic on
the road could be easily controlled.
runbackwardslights
http://www.halfbake.../runbackwardslights
Reminded me of this idea by [Jeremi] somehow [krelnik, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]
Bands of light that move at the speed limit
https://youtu.be/rqaOBEppeHw
Pacemaker lighting is designed to encourage drivers to maintain their speed by giving them a visual reference as to how fast they should be travelling [xaviergisz, Mar 18 2023]
[link]
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We've done a "pacing lights" idea before, but I think your uses are original. I like it. |
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explain it to me, phoenix. |
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is it to do with muttering a little sentence lasting 2 seconds between a couple of trees. |
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I'd imagine that these lights would be vandalized. I know I would. |
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[po] Think of street lights that only light up when necessary and only light up the section of road just ahead of the car. As the car moves down the road, the light follows it. Now put the street light at street level so it's not so much shining down on the road as across the surface. |
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This would be hypnotic. It reminds me of a Steven Wright joke where he says "I replaced my headlights with strobe lights. Now it looks like everyone else is standing still." |
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I would try to beat this at its own game (which would not be a wise or healthy thing to do I know) by going too fast then too slow. U-turns where I shouldn't etc. |
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Sadly no.... (I really wanted to vote for this idea) |
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Wouldn't work in cities/ suburbia, because of the traffic volume, need for vision of traffic conditions/ pedestrians crossing in the middle distance and as[phoenix] said, the hypnotic effect. |
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Wouldn't work on the desert highways, because the system would cost too much to construct per vehicle's benefit. More efficient for each car to use/ upgrade headlights. |
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I do like the idea of having roadside lighting only come on when cars are in the area, though this may have been suggested elsewhere, not sure. It would decrease light pollution. |
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Just use cat's eyes. They work brilliantly and I don't understand why more countries haven't adopted them (does that make sense?). |
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I like the thought of having the light follow you at your speed, but changing in case of a slow down or accident. Cool! If it won't work, it's only because people enclosed in steel automobiles forget their mortality and drive like idiots. |
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