VIDEO: Check out this Dutch motorway that glows in the dark

Two motorways, being completed in Brabant this summer, also include special lanes to recharge electric cars on the go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBTx87xiscs

FUTURISTIC-LOOKING glow-in-the-dark motorways could become a regular feature in the future, if a pilot scheme in the Netherlands proves effective.

This video showcases some experimental road technology which is due to begin trialling on two new motorways in the Brabant region later this year.

The roads not only include markings made of paint that absorbs light in the day, and then glows after dark, but they also feature ‘induction priority lanes’ which feature special underground coils to recharge an electric car while it travels.

There are also plans to paint road markings using thermally responsive paint – meaning, for example, that ice crystals could appear painted on the road if the temperature falls below zero.

What’s more, to ensure that longer nights don’t mean darker road markings, the motorways are fitted with small lights – powered by electricity generated by pinwheels which are in turn powered only by the breeze of passing cars.

(Hat-tip to Quinton O’Reilly.)

First look: Here’s what the 2013 numberplates look like

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