A British designed “smart” road-stud is making a significant improvement to driving safety on roads around the world. It offers a significant boost in night-time or poor weather visibility compared with the traditional “cats-eye” road reflector, or lines painted down the side of roads.

Astucia road studs are produced and marketed by a division of the Clear View Traffic Group, based at Bicester in Oxfordshire and have become a British export success story. The SolarLite studs are now in use in approximately 120 locations across the UK, in the Netherlands, France, Australia and in South Africa. Road safety authorities have in several cases reported reductions in night time accidents of well over 70% since the installation of the “smart” road studs.

In addition the next generation of smart road markings are also being trialled. These can automatically illuminate to warn of bad weather or slow-moving traffic ahead, or can help reduce motorway hold-ups by automatically marking additional lanes to boost capacity.

Astucia’s vision is to reduce casualties and fatalities on roads throughout the world and to reduce congestion by safely increasing the capacity and effectiveness of road networks.

Astucia’s global distribution network includes: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Middle East, New Zealand, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA.

The Astucia SolarLite™ solar-powered road stud was originally developed by a former London fire-fighter Martin Dicks and is totally self-sufficient. It stores energy collected by a solar panel during daylight, then built-in Light Emitting Diodes automatically illuminate after dark providing drivers with up to 900 metres of visibility.

This is ten times greater than the traditional, retro-reflective, passive road stud which relies on being illuminated by the headlight beam of the approaching vehicle, which at best has a useful range of 90 metres. The visibility of a night time corner without any delineation is of course, even less. The increased visibility given by the SolarLite road stud extends reaction times when driving at 100 km/h from 3.2 to over 30 seconds.

In the UK, Astucia SolarLite studs have made a significant improvement to the safety of a busy narrow and twisting rural in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, locally known as “The Five Mile Lane”.  It had a background of an unacceptably high accident record, but in the three years since the initial installation of the Astucia SolarLite road studs, there has been a 72% reduction in accidents.

On the twisting A143 at Haddiscoe in Norfolk, England, there were previously 22 recorded accidents in a three year period, two of which involved loss of life and 6 caused serious injury. 95% of these accidents were as a result of loss of control. In the two years since SolarLite studs were installed there were only five recorded accidents, all of which were minor. None occurred in the dark. The overall accident frequency has reduced from 7.3 per year to 2.3 whilst the severity ratio has reduced from 36% to zero.

The use of Astucia solar-powered road studs on a notorious stretch of highway in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa demonstrated not only their effectiveness in road safety, but also their cost-effectiveness too. A major 2 year pilot project was carried out on one of the country’s most notorious routes, the R66 north of Durban, which significantly reduced the number of serious accidents and road deaths on the busy highway.
In previous years, 88 serious accidents had claimed 27 lives and 15 less serious accidents had occurred on a twisting 34km section of the road between Melmoth and Ulundi. After the installation of 7,800 Astucia ‘smart’ road studs the accident rate fell to zero. The second stage of the installation extended the coverage to a total of c20,000 studs on 100 kilometres of the R66.

The provincial government of Kwazulu-Natal estimates that the cost of the 103 accidents before the Astucia studs were installed was some 27 million rand. The installation of the studs cost 5 million. Such was the impact of the trial that consideration is now being given by the national government to extending the technology to other ‘red spots’ throughout the country.

In Australia, the use of Astucia smart road studs is providing better safety for pedestrians at crossings on one of the busiest east – west arterial routes across the Australian state of Victoria/   The Princes Highway between Colac and Geelong virtually dissects the town of Winchelsea and local residents including school children have to cross this road daily.

Astucia developed a crossing system comprising of flush road studs containing 14 high brightness Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s), cabled together and integrated with the traditional crossing control system and warning lights.  When activated, the ‘hardwired’ flush road studs flash intensely providing a clear warning, visible to drivers up to 1000 metres away.  Additionally studs are installed in the carriageway centre line at the approach to the crossing. These studs strobe towards the oncoming traffic to provide further advanced warning of pedestrians using the crossing ahead.

Astucia’s ‘smart’ solar-powered road markings have proved a significant success in easing traffic congestion on Holland’s most crowded motorways, by allowing the Dutch Ministry of Transport to increase the capacity of the roads, by opening the hard shoulder as an extra lane during the rush hour. Dynamic Lane Markings indicate when the hard shoulder is open for use as an additional ‘plus-lane’.

The solar powered road studs are ‘hard wired’ to traffic control rooms and are illuminated during times of congestion, directing traffic from the motor way’s entry-ramp to the hard shoulder. The illuminated studs delineate the additional lane and also guide drivers onto the main carriageway when the plus-lane system is not in use.

In the French Alps, the energy efficiency of Astucia hard-wired road studs has offered a cost-effective means of illuminating the 374 meter long Galibier Tunnel between Grenoble and Valloire. When the tunnel was reopened after extensive renovation work in 2002, the decision was made to provide no traditional lighting within the tunnel, relying instead on Astucia ‘D Series’ hardwired, bi-directional amber studs mounted along the lower wall of the tunnel.

Drivers are literally guided though the tunnel by the studs, which also flash in sequence with the direction of traffic, as well as providing enhanced awareness of the proximity of the tunnel side walls. In addition to enhancing safety, the installation costs of the Astucia studs within the tunnel proved both less expensive than traditional lighting, but also significantly cheaper to operate. The reliability and very low power consumption of the built in LEDs of the Astucia D Series studs contribute to a significantly lower lifetime operating cost.

“Astucia’s prime aim is to provide smart, safe and sustainable technology, to reduce casualties and fatalities on roads throughout the world and to reduce congestion, by safely increasing the capacity and effectiveness of road networks.” says Astucia Sales and Marketing Director Martin Rodgers. “In over 120 installations around the UK, we’re already proving our intelligent road studs lead to fewer accidents and therefore save lives. Astucia’s vision is to give all road users around the world advance warning of any hazards and to provide round-the-clock reassurance to drivers.”

Successful initial trials in the Netherlands and on Scotland’s busiest motorway.

The next generation of ‘smart’ solar-powered road markings which warn of bad weather or slow-moving traffic ahead and can help reduce motorway hold-ups, have proved a significant success on highways in the Netherlands.  Two installations have significantly eased traffic congestion on Holland’s most crowded motorways, while the system is also proving a success in trials on the M8 in Scotland.

The Astucia road studs were chosen by the Dutch Ministry of Transport who are at the forefront of looking at new ways to improve traffic management on crowded motorways which are nearing their capacity during the rush hour periods. One solution has been to increase the capacity of the road by opening the hard shoulder as an extra lane during the rush hour combined with Dynamic Lane Marking to indicate when the hard shoulder is open for use as an additional ‘plus-lane’.

The ‘smart’ solar powered road studs are ‘hard wired’ to traffic control rooms and are illuminated during times of congestion, directing traffic from the motor way’s entry-ramp to the hard shoulder. The illuminated studs delineate the additional lane and also guide drivers onto the main carriageway when the plus-lane system is not in use.

The first sets of Astucia ‘smart’ studs were installed in November 2004 by InterTraffic Systems B.V., the authorised distributor of Astucia in the Netherlands, on the busy A50 motorway linking Arnhem to Zwolle in the Gelderland province. The road carries an average of over 200,000 vehicles a day.  A second installation is on the A44 motorway taking traffic from The Hague to a busy junction near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, carrying an average of over 100,000 vehicles per day. Calculations have found shown that the management system can increase the capacity of the motorway by as much as 40%, as well as reducing accident rates. 

The Dutch Ministry of Transport has commented that: “The system is performing brilliantly. We feel that it is very easy for drivers to determine when the extra lane is open or not and there this is a very effective traffic management system. Astucia’s products have proven to be able to provide a good guidance in the dark. The systems are visible at far greater distances than passively reflective systems, which influence both reaction time and driver comfort very positively. On those sites where Astucia products have been installed, a significant reduction in the accident figures has been noted.”

Marc Vissers, director of InterTraffic Systems B.V. adds: “Over the past 7 years the Dutch Road authorities have been looking at trying to increasing road capacity without adding more tarmac. The road capacity is more than adequate during most of the day, so the main solution is to use the present roads more efficiently during rush hour.  Dynamic Lane Marking is a solution. The extra lane combined with reduced speeds allows traffic to travel more efficiently and the trials have proven that Astucia is up for the challenge of providing the right product with the needed reliability and durability for the authorities to rely on.”

Currently, the Department for Transport are still evaluation the installations for future use on roads in England, but Astucia’s Intelligent Road Stud technology is currently under trial on Scotland’s busiest motorway, the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The “smart” studs have been fitted to a 3 kilometre stretch of Scotland’s busiest motorway, linked with traffic speed collection data to provide feedback to road users of approaching hazards. 

The chosen trial site chosen is on the approach to Junction 6 on the west-bound section of the M8, a busy and fog-prone section of motorway which each day is used by an average of 51,000 vehicles. In the event of a bad weather, an incident or queuing traffic, control units automatically relay instructions to the appropriate strings of Intelligent Road Studs.

The activated studs then flash to provide hazard warning to approaching traffic. The System performs intelligent queue tracking so that only the strings of studs upstream of any slow moving or stationary traffic are activated.

“Astucia’s prime aim is to provide smart, safe and sustainable technology, to provide motorists with advance warning of a hazard” says Astucia Managing Director Martin Rodgers. “In the M8 trial the increased brightness of the Astucia studs guide motorists safely through reduced visibility caused by fog or mist and by flashing, the studs alert drivers to a traffic jam or an accident further on, providing round-the-clock reassurance to drivers. But that is just one exciting project. In over 120 installations around the UK, we’re already proving our intelligent road studs lead to fewer accidents and therefore save lives.”

The British-designed Astucia solar-powered road-stud has already made a significant improvement to driving safety on a number of key roads, with a tenfold boost in visibility compared with the traditional reflective “cats-eye.”  In addition, the latest generation of “smart” road stud sits flush with the road surface, eliminating a source of risk to cyclists and motor cyclists.

The Astucia SolarLite™ stud stores solar energy during the day, then built-in Light Emitting Diodes automatically illuminate from dusk to dawn, providing drivers with up to 900 metres of visibility. This is ten times greater than the retro-reflective road stud which relies on being illuminated by the headlight beam of the approaching vehicle. At best it has a useful range of 90 metres.

For a car driver, the latest flush-fitting design, which rises in a smoothly profiled dome to less than 4mm above the road surface, eliminates the annoying ‘thump-thump’ as one changes lanes. For cyclists and motor cyclists, particularly in slippery conditions, it removes a major risk of instability.  With a maximum diameter of 112 mm the polycarbonate surface of the SolarLite road studs is also much narrower than traditional road markers, further minimising the risk of slippage.

Martin Dicks, the former London firefighter who conceived the smart, safe and sustainable concept that created the Astucia SolarLite stud, is a keen motorcyclist. Hehas first-hand experience of the ‘nervous’ feeling created by some road markings.

“These days I ride a BMW tourer, one of the heaviest and most stable motor cycles on the road. Even that sometimes gets shaken all over the place by over-prominent road markers” say Dicks. “It doesn’t require much imagination to guess the effects on a lighter motorcycle or a pedal cycle. Using our technology to develop a flush-mounted road stud, simply made common sense.”

The latest SolarLite road stud also makes financial sense for local authorities, who are required to inspect every highway and regularly replace damaged or missing road markings. The new flush-mounted studs are significantly more resistant to damage from winter snow ploughing and from heavy vehicle damage.

Each Astucia stud has a projected life of eight to ten years, compared with just one to two years for a conventional retro-reflective stud. Over its lifespan the more sophisticated Astucia “smart” stud will therefore cost no more than a traditional cat’s eye. The units’ efficiency can also allow a reduction in the use of energy- and maintenance-intensive, carbon-inefficient, streetlights.

In the UK, Astucia road studs are currently installed on roads in Lothian in Scotland, the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, in Essex, Buckinghamshire, Norfolk and Oxfordshire, where they have demonstrated a reduction in serious accident levels of over 70%.

In addition to making a valuable contribution to safety on highways, the Astucia solar-powered studs are also proving to be a smart, safe and sustainable solution to marking demarking dedicated cycle lanes and routes such as those created by Sustrans. This in turn increases safety and encourages users to get on their bikes and cycle.

The Astucia solar powered studs are being used on cycle routes in and out of the city of Peterborough and in locations such as Addenbrookes and between Girton and Oakington on the outskirts of Cambridge. By combining pedal power with solar power, the studs provide a sustainable solution to waymarking the routes for cyclists, providing demarcation of combined pedestrian and cycle paths so that cyclists and pedestrian remain separated. They also provide delineation of the edges of cycle paths so that cyclists can safely stay on track even if being dazzled by the headlights of oncoming vehicles on adjacent roads.

Shorter days and longer hours of darkness, along with inclement winter weather place particular emphasis on the need for road delineation, to show the driver where the road goes next. The latest generation of a British-designed “smart” road-stud has just been certified by the Department for Transport and is making a significant improvement to driving safety, with a big boost in visibility compared with the traditional reflective “cats-eye.”

The Astucia SolarLite™ stud stores solar energy during the day, then built-in Light Emitting Diodes automatically illuminate from dusk to dawn, providing drivers with up to 900 metres of visibility. This is ten times greater than the traditional, retro-reflective, passive road stud which relies on being illuminated by the headlight beam of the approaching vehicle. At best it has a useful range of 90 metres.

The increased visibility given by the SolarLite road stud extends driver reaction times from 3.2 to over 30 seconds, when driving at 60mph. The studs are now in use in approximately 120 locations across the UK and a number of Local Authorities have reported reductions in night time accidents of well over 70% since the installation of the SolarLite “smart” road studs.

Research carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory also shows that when the smart studs are used, drivers also significantly less likely to cross the white line in the centre of a road or move out of lane on a dual carriageway. They also brake earlier and more consistently.

The greater number of visual references also means that drivers tend not to speed into the corners. In addition, the flush fitting studs are also safer for cyclist and motorcyclists. All make their contribution to added driving safety.

The latest generation of the SolarLite F Series intelligent road stud has taken advantage of improved solar panel and Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology, along with internal design developments, to allow costs to be dramatically reduced in comparison with earlier units.

The latest Astucia stud reduces casualties on the road and has a projected life of eight to ten years, compared with just one to two years for a conventional retro-reflective stud. Over its lifespan an Astucia “smart” stud will therefore cost no more than a traditional cat’s eye. The units’ efficiency can also allow a reduction in the use of energy- and maintenance-intensive, carbon-inefficient, streetlights.

In comparison with the cost and trauma of a fatal road accident of course, the price of any road stud fades into insignificance. According to the latest UK Department for Transport annual statistics, there are on average more than 8 fatal accidents every day, each one costing the country £1.69 million pounds. While only one third of all journeys occur at night, almost half of the serious or fatal accidents occur during the hours of darkness.

In the UK, Astucia road studs are currently installed on roads in Lothian in Scotland, the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, in Buckinghamshire, Norfolk and Oxfordshire. They are also used in more specialised applications such as demarking cycle lanes in Cambridgeshire and Fast Track bus lanes in Essex.

The smart, safe and sustainable concept that created the Astucia SolarLite studs was conceived in 1989 by Martin Dicks. A former member of the London Fire Brigade, he formed Astucia to develop and market his invention in 1992..

Martin is recognised within the industry as one of the true visionaries in this vital field of road safety, building on the legacy of Percy Shaw, the inventor of the original “cats-eye” in the 1930s. Dicks is the inventor of an entire product range covering solar and hardwired studs, including studs that can warn of impending hazards such as fog, ice and surface water, or stationary traffic ahead
In 2003, Astucia made a significant step forward when John Madejski OBE DL, best known for his ownership of Reading Football Club and, more recently for his charitable work in the arts field supporting the Royal Academy and the V&A museum, acquired a controlling interest in the business. He made further investments to fund the R&D program and has supported the development of the company as a part of the Clearview Traffic Group, which also includes Golden River Traffic, a leader in the field of automated traffic counting and classifying, and Count On Us, the largest UK provider of transportation data collection and analysis services.

“Astucia is shaping the future of traffic safety by providing superior information to drivers about potential hazards direct from the road in their natural field of vision” says Martin Rodgers, sales and marketing director for Clearview Traffic. “The advance information on the road ahead provided to drivers by the Astucia studs is clearly proven to reduce incidents, so we’re delighted to be able to bring to the market this next generation of flush stud, which is also easier and therefore cheaper to install, further justifying a unique British product which is continuing to prevent accidents and save lives.”