Botts Dots

[Voyager]

Is California the only state that uses them on all of it's freeways? I personally love those little bumps on the lanes, they really do help most of the time when you're driving in low visibility and they do just look really nice on the highways and freeways. I just don't understand why other states don't use them as much.

[Darkchylde]

Texas uses them on stretches under construction, that I know of. (Many a day, I had to deal with the jarring noise of them on the West Loop.) They also used to be used on long bridges in Louisiana (in fact, many are still present on the Causeway to this day).

[deathtopumpkins]

I'm guessing that since I'm not sure what they are, Virginia doesn't use them...

[agentsteel53]

flattened hemispheres, about 4 inches in diameter and one inch high, glued to, or bolted into, the road surface.  they provide sudden tactile feedback when driven over, which help cut down on accidents caused by distracted, fatigued, or drunk drivers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botts'_dots

(known colloquially, at least here in California, as "drunk dots")

[deathtopumpkins]

Ahhh... We use those around here between the yellow lines when approaching a stop sign sometimes, and on sharp 90-degree curves. Between highway lanes we just have the simple reflectors embedded in the pavement as on every road, and rumble strips on the outside edges and on share left turn lanes.

[Shadow Assassin]

We used to use those here before we switched over to using rumble strips.


Image courtesy of Expressway

As you can see in this picture (this was taken in 2005 while the M7 was being built).

[Chris]

I think snow plows destroy them.

[Shadow Assassin]

I think snow plows destroy them.

They most definitely do.

That's why they're rarely used in the northern states and Canada.

[ComputerGuy]

WA uses them on I-5 even in Seattle

[Alex]

Alabama used to use them on viaducts and long bridges. The Mobile Bayway and Interstate 165 had them in full use until the early 2000s. You can still find them along the outer striping of Interstate 165 to this day.

[Duke87]

Several parkways in the NYC area employ them.

Of course, said parkways don't have overhead lighting, so the idea there is that they're reflective and make the lane lines easier to see in the dark with headlights being the sole source of illumination.

Nobody know them as anything, though. I mention "Bott's dots" in casual conversation and I get strange looks. I then explain and get "oh, is that was those things are called?" and/or "why do you know that?"

Actually, I get "why do you know that?" about a lot of things. Comes with being a nerd.

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma doesn't use Botts' Dots at all. The closest thing we have are little plastic flags that are glued to the pavement during (usually more minor) construction projects, especially repaving projects. They are reflective. Needless to say they don't last very long, though they do provide a little bit of tactile feedback as your tires crush the poor little things.

In rural areas you're more likely to just get a "Centerline And Edge Line Not Marked" sign. Hmmmph.

[Voyager]

I've always wanted one of the white round ones that they use on California's freeways. 

[deathtopumpkins]

So go pry one up!  I'm sure you could get it without too much trouble. 

[Alex]

The ones on Interstate 165 tend to come loose from time to time and end up on the shoulder.

[algorerhythms]

I seem to remember seeing those things on I-68 when the State Highway Administration was working on the MD 936 bridge, but in all the states I've been in, that's the only case I remember where I saw them.

[roadfro]

RPMs (Raised Pavment Markers, which include Botts Dots and the raised reflectors) are used extensively in the Las Vegas, Nevada area.  Nearly all arterial streets and most major roads use RPMs instead of painted or film stripes. 

NDOT also uses RPMs on nearly all freeways and most major highways in Clark County.  In more rural areas, dashed lines may be painted and a reflector may be placed in between.

[yacoded]

I wished they used them up here in the Northeast it's possible. In the UK they use Cat's Eyes and the work so that way snowplows can plow over them without a problem. It's hard to see up here without them, especially when there's no light.

[Truvelo]

In the UK they use Cat's Eyes and the work so that way snowplows can plow over them without a problem. It's hard to see up here without them, especially when there's no light.

We also use proper botts dots in roadworks to make up road markings when lanes shift like in this picture, they're called Reflectafix.

[leonontheroad]

I've seen streets in certain parts of Suburban Dallas that use them.

We sure as hell could use them on the freeways here in Atlanta. It really irks me that stretches of freeways here are not consistently illuminated, and it can be hard to see at night sometimes on the darker stretches of freeways.

[yacoded]

I first noticed the reflectors in the Mid-Atlantic on I-95 in Maryland and I thought what a great idea it was.