Traffic lines, or road surface marking is the term applicable to the material or device that is used on the surface of the road for the purpose of conveying official information. It can also be applied on various facilities that accommodate vehicles in their parking spaces. It may also be used to designate certain areas for various other uses.
It is frequently used on paved roads so that the right guidance will be provided for the benefit of both pedestrians and drivers. Uniformity is important for various reasons. One would be to keep the confusion at a bare minimum. It is also used and interpreted differently by different countries, who have their own ways of categorizing.
There are varying types as these things can be looked upon as temporary or not. They may be mechanical or perhaps non mechanical. Delineating traffic lines is yet another purpose, other than being information providers to pedestrians. They can be utilized in waking up sleeping drivers and in generating noise overall.
The regulation as it concerns parking and stopping is yet another purpose. To this day, there are several efforts to improve the system. There have been several notable technological breakthroughs like adding retroreflectivity, longevity and installation costs being lowered.
Historically speaking, one of the first documented use of these markings was way back in 1911 in Wayne County, Michigan. The idea was conceived by Edward N. Hines, who happened to be the chairman of the Board of Roads within Wayne County, Michigan. For this innovation, Hines was inducted into the Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor posthumously back in 1972.
Another advancement was in the year 1917. In that year, it was conceptualized that these markings would be implemented in rural highways. They went as far as actually implementing it within three states, even though the three states in question, Michigan, Oregon and California, all acted independently.
Colors eventually became a significant part as the people in charge began to adopted certain colors, such as yellow and white. By November of 1954, there were forty seven states that began to use white as the standard color. Oregon was the last holdout when it came to utilizing yellow. Eventually it was mandated that yellow be used as the standard color of all center lines throughout the entire country.
It even spread to other countries like the United Kingdom. From the very beginning, motor vehicle accidents were very problematic to the English. This was because of all the reckless driving at that time. Despite its start as an experiment of sorts over there, the results were undeniably good and like in the U. S, it led to a nationwide adoption. Soon other countries adopted the system as well.
Traffic lines obviously has a very colorful history, one that is often painted as uninteresting or boring by many people. There is no doubt that it is informative nonetheless. In the modern day, people from all walks of life have benefited greatly from it, whether they were pedestrians or drivers. It may be somewhat overlooked, but there is no denying how important its role is today.
It is frequently used on paved roads so that the right guidance will be provided for the benefit of both pedestrians and drivers. Uniformity is important for various reasons. One would be to keep the confusion at a bare minimum. It is also used and interpreted differently by different countries, who have their own ways of categorizing.
There are varying types as these things can be looked upon as temporary or not. They may be mechanical or perhaps non mechanical. Delineating traffic lines is yet another purpose, other than being information providers to pedestrians. They can be utilized in waking up sleeping drivers and in generating noise overall.
The regulation as it concerns parking and stopping is yet another purpose. To this day, there are several efforts to improve the system. There have been several notable technological breakthroughs like adding retroreflectivity, longevity and installation costs being lowered.
Historically speaking, one of the first documented use of these markings was way back in 1911 in Wayne County, Michigan. The idea was conceived by Edward N. Hines, who happened to be the chairman of the Board of Roads within Wayne County, Michigan. For this innovation, Hines was inducted into the Michigan Transportation Hall of Honor posthumously back in 1972.
Another advancement was in the year 1917. In that year, it was conceptualized that these markings would be implemented in rural highways. They went as far as actually implementing it within three states, even though the three states in question, Michigan, Oregon and California, all acted independently.
Colors eventually became a significant part as the people in charge began to adopted certain colors, such as yellow and white. By November of 1954, there were forty seven states that began to use white as the standard color. Oregon was the last holdout when it came to utilizing yellow. Eventually it was mandated that yellow be used as the standard color of all center lines throughout the entire country.
It even spread to other countries like the United Kingdom. From the very beginning, motor vehicle accidents were very problematic to the English. This was because of all the reckless driving at that time. Despite its start as an experiment of sorts over there, the results were undeniably good and like in the U. S, it led to a nationwide adoption. Soon other countries adopted the system as well.
Traffic lines obviously has a very colorful history, one that is often painted as uninteresting or boring by many people. There is no doubt that it is informative nonetheless. In the modern day, people from all walks of life have benefited greatly from it, whether they were pedestrians or drivers. It may be somewhat overlooked, but there is no denying how important its role is today.
