Cat's Eye's.

[Mackem]

I have just been reading about Percy Shaw the man who invented the cat's eye's we see everywhere on the roads around the world. Apparently he was driving home one dark and foggy night in 1933 when a cat coming towards him had it's eye's lit up by his car headlights and that was where he got the idea from.
What would he have invented if the cat was facing the other way?...............
The Pencil Sharpener perhaps!

[PuzzledMoose]

Originally Posted by pitbull

I have just been reading about Percy Shaw the man who invented the cat's eye's we see everywhere on the roads around the world. Apparently he was driving home one dark and foggy night in 1933 when a cat coming towards him had it's eye's lit up by his car headlights and that was where he got the idea from.
What would he have invented if the cat was facing the other way?...............
The Pencil Sharpener perhaps!

They don't have cats' eyes here in Canada, Kevin - not this part anyway - it was one of the first things I noticed where I started driving here ..

There was a documentary about Percy Shaw on TV in the Uk a few years ago - strange guy - he made a lot of money from his idea apparently but lived in a house that was virtually empty - no curtains and crates on the floor to sit on. I guess the wealth didn't go to his head - though he did own a Rolls Royce...

[Mackem]

I suppose you dont need cat's eye's Ian, not with all them mooses roaming about. LOL.

[Dragon]

Obviously they don't have them here either because I don't know what they are???
Diane

[Mackem]

Hi Diane, they are small bits of glass set into the edge of a road, so that when you drive along they reflect in the headlights of your vehicle and so show you where the edge of the road/highway is. If you google cat's eye's or percy shaw it will show you what i mean.

[earlinjax]

They are not too practical in your northern climes. The snow plow keeps shearing them off.

Earl

[PuzzledMoose]

Originally Posted by earlinjax

They are not too practical in your northern climes. The snow plow keeps shearing them off.

Earl

So do they have them in Florida? I've never noticed them in the US when I've driven but I've only ever driven in daylight when I've been there ...

You could be right about the snow plough - at least our mailbox survived this winter snow ploughs- unlike last year when it was destroyed by one!

[workin for wood]

We have them here in Michigan, but they are in the center of the road, not on the edges. They use a machine that cuts a slot out of the road and the eye is glued in to hole. A snowplow won't tear it off because it is flush with the road surface. I see them the same way in Ontario.

What I don't understand is over in saskatchewan they mount their traffic lights sideways !?!?! I think a few other places in the bread basket do the same thing too..it's quite confusing. It's not that they don't mean the same thing...it's just the way they present it.

[William Young (SE BC)]

but they are in the center of the road, not on the edges. They use a machine that cuts a slot out of the road and the eye is glued in to hole. A snowplow won't tear it off because it is flush with the road surface

Same here in British Columbia . They are yellow reflectors . The highway that is in the left of this picture down below where I live has them all the way to the south for ten miles to town and in the other direction heading north up along the lake for 50 miles. They are imbedded into the center there because of all the twisting turns with the highway following along the base of the mountains.
Now if they could only do something about keeping the deer and moose and elk off that highway we would have a lot less road kill.

Anyone want to start a road kill cafe ? This would be a prime location

[Dragon]

Just looked up cat's eyes and they are great but would not be very good around here. Too much snow in the winter and yes the plow would rip them right out.
Diane