Cat’s Eyes Offer Cost Effective Solution In Improving Road Safety

Islamabad: Road safety Expert Muhammad Anwar stated that Cat’s Eyes are a cost-effective alternative for increasing road safety by lowering the chance of accidents due to its advantages such as clear visibility, durability, and affordability.

Muhammad Anwar said that Cat’s Eyes consisted of a small cylindrical unit, fitted with retro-reflective lenses that reflected light back toward its source, such as car headlights.

He said that Cat’s Eyes have significantly decreased the number of traffic accidents and are highly visible even in dim illumination.

Anwar added that one of the key advantages of Cat’s Eyes is that it helped to clearly define the road edge even in bad weather conditions, including rain, snow, and extreme temperatures, and could withstand heavy traffic. Cat’s Eyes assists in identifying steep curves, changes in the direction of the road, and other potential risks, giving drivers more time to react to these impediments and make the appropriate modifications.

The road safety expert highlighted that the quality of 3M Cat’s Eyes, which are imported from Malaysia, is used in Pakistan and also preferred by National Highway Authority and Frontier Works Organization (FWO).

This ground-breaking technology was first developed in the UK in the 1930s and has contributed to improving visibility and reducing the number of accidents on roads throughout the world. The road safety invention was made due to problems first being spotted when driving across country roads with no source of light to guide drivers who are already nervous from these narrow unpredictable roads.

English inventor and businessman Percy Shaw wished for a solution to these problems after almost getting into a serious accident whilst driving. This incident led him to create the “cat’s eye” or what some now call the reflective road studs in 1934 and further led him to create a company to manufacture the invention.