The History of Road Studs

A Stud is Born. Well, Almost.

The concept of using reflective markers to mark the edges of roads was first introduced by Frederick Lee in 1932. He proposed the use of glass reflective markers screwed into small recesses in the kerb to improve visibility at night and during periods of poor weather. The markers would be slightly recessed, allowing water to enter and clean them while safeguarding them from mud and potential damage.

Image copyright: Catseyes.com

Image copyright: Catseyes.com

Frederick’s idea included the use of different colours to indicate upcoming hazards, such as junctions and steep hills, as well as bends in the road. Unfortunately, the idea did not advance beyond the initial patent stage due to Frederick’s numerous family obligations, which made it impossible for him to afford the expenses required for patent renewal, ultimately leading to its expiration.

Direction Is in The Eye of The Beholder

However, it was two years later, in 1934, when the idea of “cat’s eyes” as we know them today came into being after a Halifax engineer, Percy Shaw had a near-accident while driving through Bradford.

Prior to this, he used to navigate with the use of the reflection of his headlights on tramlines, but with the decline of trams, this method was not as readily available.

While descending a steep hill one night, he abruptly stopped when he saw his headlights reflecting through the cat’s eyes. The road curved, and Percy found himself unintentionally on the wrong side of the road due to driving straight.

Image copyright: Calderdale Museums

Image copyright: Open.edu

Had he not stopped, he would have veered off an embankment. This incident prompted Percy to believe that a visual marker should be reintroduced along the road. Drawing inspiration from the cat’s eyes that potentially saved his life, he invented a rubber contraption housing two reflective glass studs on each side to delineate the road’s centre.

The rubber dome was enclosed in a metal “shoe,” allowing it to depress when a car passed over, thus safeguarding the reflectors from harm. Additionally, the shoe was designed to admit rainwater, facilitating reflector cleaning when submerged.

Once the design was finalised and patented, Percy trademarked the term “Cats Eye” in 1934 and established a business to manufacture the device on a large scale.

Bigger, Better, Faster

In 1967, in the United States, Sidney A Heenan from the Stimsonite® Corporation (formerly known as Amerace) pioneered a surface-mounted or “stick-on” road stud innovation. He introduced a prismatic reflector encased within a plastic structure that could be affixed onto the carriageway’s surface.

This Stimsonite creation allowed for significantly swifter installation compared to the conventional cats eye design. Consequently, it found widespread adoption across the growing interstate road network, establishing North America as the globe’s foremost consumer of road studs.

Image copyright: Google Patents