Icy road warning
A new smart road stud from New Zealand-based Solar Bright can warn drivers of potentially icy roads and will soon be able to alert traffic management centres and maintenance depots of the treacherous conditions.
Once installed in the road the solar-powered studs monitor humidity and temperature and if the temperature drops to 0°C or below the blue LEDs in the stud start to flash to alert drivers of the possibility of ice formation.
The company is trialling a communications system that will send a signal to the traffic control centre when it is activated to inform the maintenance department about where gritters need to be deployed.
