Why ‘dragon teeth' are being added to Aussie roads
They may not be from Smaug, King Ghidorah or Falkor, but Australian drivers may soon be coming across 'dragon teeth' on their morning commutes.
Strange-looking three-dimensional road markings have appeared in South Australia as part of a safety trial amid the country's worst road death crisis in decades.
The triangular, blue and white markings are a variation of 'dragon teeth' and signal the transition into a lower-speed zone of 40 km/h.
The road markings being trialled in Adelaide are part of a study led by the University of Adelaide's Centre for Automotive Safety Research.
'This trial is supported with a grant from the Commonwealth government, the federal government, it's a specific grant for finding new ways to improve road safety.' Senior research associate at the Centre for Automotive Research Dr Mario Mongiardini told News.com.au.
The markings, also known as treatments, are designed to play off an optical illusion that makes drivers think they're going faster than they are, based on decreasing triangle size.
'They induce the perception that the lane is reducing. And the main aim of this effect is to induce drivers to slow down.'
NSW drivers may be familiar with plain white dragon teeth markings, but the trial added a three-dimensional aspect to the treatment to higheten the desired effect.
'Hopefully the three-dimensional aspect enhances the effect of the standard dragon teeth, so increases that feeling and therefore hopefully make them more effective at creating this channelisation, and therefore inducing them to slow down,' Dr Mongiardini said.
'Its also to make them more aware, give them the sense of warning that there is something changing ahead. And that is the kind of additional thing, I would say, that sometimes the standard dragon teeth, they may not achieve.'
The trial concluded last week in sites across South Australia, and experts are now conducting analysis to see the potential for future more widespread implementation.
'Let's start with this trial, see how effective this treatment is in at least achieving the objective that we are aiming to achieve.
You usually start with a small trial. If it's promising, then you may expand the trial, you may expand the application, and then eventually may become a standard treatment.'
They have been installed at Magill Road, Magill, and Seaview Road, Henley Beach, areas intentionally selected for their zones of high pedestrian activity.
A Facebook post announcing the markings received mixed reception from social media users with some describing it as 'fantastic idea and well over due,' while others slammed it as a 'waste of taxpayers' money' and questioned why the government didn't 'just paint the speed limit on the road.'
While painted speed limits are allowed on roads in NSW, they are currently not part of the standard pavement markings allowed in South Australia, Dr Mongiardini said.
'I think it's a good idea to combine both and to have a speed limit sign painted just upstream of the treatment or at the very beginning, and then the three-dimensional dragon teeth to reinforce the meaning that drivers are transiting to an area where the speed limit and the environment is changing ahead,' he said.
'While we can't currently do that in South Australia, it's on the table.'
The trial comes as Australia recorded 1318 deaths on Australian roads last year, marking a surging national road toll for the fourth consecutive year – the first time this has occurred in over six decades.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that more than three people died and more than 100 others suffered serious injuries on Australian roads every day in 2024.
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