United Kingdom and Hong Kong on the
A31 In the United Kingdom, different colours of cat's eyes are used to denote different situations: • White is used to indicate the centre line of a single carriageway road or the lane markings of a
dual carriageway or
motorway. • Amber and red cat's eyes denote lines that should not be crossed under normal circumstances. Amber is used for the right-hand side of dual carriageways and motorways, delineating the central reservation. Red is used for the left-hand side of the same and may be crossed in order to access a hard shoulder in emergencies. • Green indicates a line that may be crossed, such as a slip road or lay-by. These units are not very visible in daylight and are generally used in conjunction with traditionally painted lines. Temporary cat's eyes with just a reflective strip are often used during motorway repair work. These are typically day glow green/yellow so they are easily visible in daylight as well as in darkness; they can then be used on their own for lane division. Also seen during motorway repair work are plastic traffic pillars that are inserted into the socket of a retractable cat's eye rather than being free-standing. These are often used in conjunction with two rows of the temporary cat's eyes to divide traffic moving in opposite directions during motorway roadworks. Solar-powered cat's eyes known as solar road studs and showing a red or amber
LED to traffic, have been introduced on roads regarded as particularly dangerous at locations throughout the world. However, shortly after one such installation in
Essex in the autumn of 2006 the
BBC reported that the devices, which flash at an almost imperceptibly fast rate of 100 times a second, could possibly set off
epileptic fits and the
Highways Agency had suspended the programme. The suspension appeared to have been lifted by 2015, when LED cat's eyes began to be installed along newly re-paved sections of the A1 and A1(M) in
County Durham and
Tyne and Wear. Flashing blue LED cat's eyes were demonstrated on the TV show
Accident Black Spot, aired on
Channel 4 on 19 December 2000, which alert the driver to potential ice on the road when a low enough temperature, provisionally set at , is reached. Proposed enhancements in 2013 were to change the standard white light to amber for four seconds after the passing of a vehicle, or red if the following vehicle is too close or traffic ahead is stationary.
Ireland In Ireland yellow cat's eyes are used on all hard shoulders, including motorways (neither red nor blue cat's eyes are used). In addition, standalone reflector batons are often used on the verge of Irish roads. Green cat's eyes are used to alert motorists to upcoming junctions. There are limited installations of actively powered cats eyes, which flash white light, on particularly dangerous sections of road such as the single carriageway sections of the N11.
United States The closest equivalent in the United States is the Stimsonite retroreflective raised pavement marker,
Continental Europe By contrast to the UK where use of cat's eyes is widespread, in Continental Europe cat's eyes are rarely used as a permanent fixture. Most appear white or gray during daylight; the colors discussed here are the color of light they reflect. Because of their inconspicuousness during the day, they are always used in conjunction with painted retro-reflective lines. White markers for lane markings. When used on dual carriageways, motorways, or one-way roads, they may illuminate red on the reverse, to indicate drivers are traveling the wrong way. Yellow or amber markers are used next to the central reservation (US: median) on motorways and dual carriageways and, in the Republic of Ireland, also on hard shoulders. s from entering on the wrong carriageway in France Red markers are used by the hard shoulder on motorways and at the edge of the running surface on other roads. They are also occasionally used to indicate a no-entry road and when traveling down the wrong way of the motorway/dual carriageway. Green markers are used where slip-roads leave and join the main carriageway on dual carriageways. In some countries, they are also used across the entrances of minor roads or accesses onto major single carriageway roads or lay-bys. Blue markers are used to indicate the entrance to police reserved slip-roads (these do not lead anywhere, they are to allow police to park and monitor motorway traffic). The exception to the above rules are: Fluorescent yellow markers are used to indicate temporary lanes during roadworks on major roads and are glued to the road surface; they are never embedded in it. Any painted markings will be removed from the road surface if they contradict the markers. They are fluorescent yellow in colour, so they stand out in the day, but reflect white light at night. Where used, they are much more numerous and dense than standards markers, as they are not used in conjunction with painted lines. They also appear yellow on the edges but reflect red on the left side or amber on the right
Lebanon In Lebanon, cat's eyes are widely used on most freeways, highways and roadways. On freeways and highways, every one (or sometimes two) white stripes separating lanes is followed by a white shining cat's eye. On the edge of the road next to the median strip, a yellow cat's eye is placed every . On the road shoulders a red shining cat's eye is placed every . On roadways separated by double yellow lines, a yellow cat's eye is placed inside the double yellow lines every . Before speed bumps, a series of cat's eyes are placed shining white to the oncoming traffic and red to the car from the opposite direction. On pedestrian crossings, blue shining cat's eyes are placed after every zebra line. On roads with traffic lights, a series of red shining cat's eyes are placed before traffic lights to make drivers slow down. ==Accidents caused==