Current traffic lights are mostly a variation of the same concept used by the first ever traffic light of 1868, a coloured lamp in a box sometimes alongside the road or sometimes above the lane. This works well in many situations, but now may be time to move forwards. At complicated road layouts with many lanes it is distracting to take your eyes off the road to crank your head sideways or crane upwrads in order to look at the lamps and road signs and simultaneously to pay attention to the traffic ahead. Consequentially there is a risk of confusion. Furthermore not all motorists are as switched-on, attentive and responsive as me. Therefore there is a risk of humiliating and tedious pile-up, sliding graunch, prang or percussion. Even I myself may have been unaware that I have unintentionally gone by a red lamp on occasion- I don't know for sure because I was unaware due to being distracted.
The cats eye 2.0 is a dot-matrix of LED cat's eyes embedded in the road surface, rather than beside the road. The array would flash up animated versions of the road lane markers with which everyone is familiar. The π- or ϴ symbol in red LEDS for lanes which are closed or down or along which you may not yet venture. A big fat straight ahead arrow in green would signify 'proceed with caution'. A bent arrow would denote that this lane is designated to turn right or turn left. Alphanumeric messages produced by a peg display could be programmed by the traffic officers for special situations (“drunks in road”). All signs would be corrected for perspective. The LEDs will be inserted into the road and bonded by means of two-component polysulphide adhesive. They are only small, about 5mm diameter pegs with glass or quartz optics which project a narrow beam of light towards the approaching driver, so the energy consumption is extremely low. Because they stand proud of the road slightly they will consequently be polished by the passage of tyres.-- bhumphrys, Jan 25 2020 Rather than LED lights indicating which directions are allowed, I propose mechanized steel pillars rising up out of the road indicating which directions are not allowed.-- sninctown, Jan 25 2020 Holographic traffic cops?-- Voice, Jan 26 2020 Could they be powered if placed between vehicle sensing plate and vehicle? A Ramset gun could quickly place an insert in the road to house the cats eye 2.0.-- wjt, Jan 26 2020 //special situations (“drunks in road”)//
Peg Display: "fools in road" Driver: "Damned straight; that's just what I was thinking! You know what? There should be a [...]" Peg Display: "I was talking about you"-- pertinax, Jan 31 2020 random, halfbakery