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       A second Australian state is to trial night-time lighting strips to improve safety on one of the region’s most dangerous roads.
       New South Wales will become the second Australian state to trial illuminated road markings as the government looks to curb the country’s rising road death toll.
       The NSW Government will install photoluminescent markings on a three-kilometre section of Bulli Pass, a steep up-and-down road north of Wollongong, for six months to assess the feasibility of rolling out “glowing roads” across the state.
       Bulli Pass Road was chosen because of its hairpin turns and saw “an increase in near misses between 9pm and 4am” in the 12 months to June 30 this year, with 125 near misses recorded.
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       ”The data shows that around a third of fatalities in NSW occur at night,” NSW Roads Minister John Graham said, according to Road Online.
       ”If this trial is deemed successful, we will consider applying it to other locations where collisions or near-death situations have occurred and where better visibility is required.”
       The paint used on the Glowing Road is designed to absorb sunlight during the day and then store it and use it to illuminate the markings at night.
       It is claimed that the illuminated roads will “provide a safe alternative in areas where street lighting is not possible.”
       ”This initiative provides an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly solution for regional roads with limited or no street lighting,” said Jenny Aitchison, the region’s Minister for Transport and Roads, Road Online reports.
       In 2022, Victoria trialled a similar scheme on regional roads, but its road safety benefits were deemed insufficient to justify wider implementation of lit roads.
       A 2014 trial in the Netherlands produced similar results, showing that illuminated roads tended to dim during heavy rain, reducing visibility for drivers. The project was eventually abandoned.
       The number of deaths on Australia’s roads has risen every year since 2020, and the trend is expected to continue this year. By the end of October, a total of 1,063 people had died, with almost a quarter of those deaths occurring in New South Wales.