Drivers in the Netherlands could soon be able to see the if road conditions are dangerous even if the weather appears to be safe to drive in.
According to Wired, highway officials are considering using a photo-luminizing powder to make roads an intelligent source of information, allowing drivers to be aware of potential hazards in low light or at night. The ultimate aim of the engineering research project, which is still very much in the early stages of implementation, is to create traffic routes that are an interactive tool for drivers with glow-in-the-dark symbols indicating the current condition or to provide illumination when vehicles pass.
The powder will be charged using sunlight, with enough energy absorbed to power as much as ten hours of highway lighting. Special symbols could be painted on the roads, such as snowflakes, that would be lit up when the temperature drops to a certain point and indicating to drivers that the road could be slippery or alert them to the possibility of black ice.
The innovative idea to turn highways into an interactive information source comes at a time when traffic officials across Europe are looking to save money on highway and street lighting. The UK government has already announced that it intends to dim motorway lights after 9 p.m. in an attempt to conserve energy and cut costs, but the "Smart Highway" could see renewable energy sources used to power dynamic lighting that only reacts when it senses an approaching vehicle.
Read more: Dutch drivers to test glow-in-the-dark highways
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