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A reflective lens in a rubber housing set into the road.
Also known as: Road stud, Reflective road marker, Shiny bump in the road
Sometimes confused with: Botts' dot
A road stud of this kind reflects headlights back to the driver and cleans itself: the rubber housing depresses when a wheel passes and wipes the lens against a rubber wiper. That self-cleaning action is the invention, not the reflector.
Denotes a retroreflective road stud marking lane divisions and edges, visible in headlights at night.
Contexts: Public information
Cleans its own lens: driving over the stud depresses the housing and wipes the reflector against a rubber surface, which is the patented feature.
Contexts: Public information
Is colour-coded by position in Britain — white between lanes, red at the left edge, amber at the central reservation, green at a slip road, blue at emergency accesses — and other countries code differently.
Contexts: Public information
Was invented by Percy Shaw in 1934 in Yorkshire.
Contexts: Public information
A small rectangular rubber housing set flush into the road surface, holding a pair of glass or plastic reflector lenses facing oncoming traffic.