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Glow-in-the-Dark Road Markings in Australia: Where They’re Being Trialled—and Do They Improve Safety?

Photoluminescent road markings are intended to make road lines and curves more visible at night. Here’s where Australia announced trials and what is—and isn’t—known about their safety impact.
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Australia’s glow-in-the-dark road markings are being trialled to make road lines and curves easier to see at night, but the available sources do not show that they have reduced crashes or measurably improved safety. Transport for NSW announced a six-month public-road trial on a hairpin bend at Bulli Pass; Victoria had announced separate regional trials in 2021.

Where are glow-in-the-dark roads in Australia?

Bulli Pass, New South Wales

Transport for NSW announced photoluminescent markings for a hairpin turn partway down the steep Bulli Pass descent on the Princes Highway, south of Sydney. The agency said it chose the site after a rise in near-misses and noted that large trucks and motorcycles use the road. A glow sign was also planned. This was announced as a specific trial, not a nationwide installation. Transport for NSW’s announcement said 125 near-misses were recorded at the site in the year to 30 June 2024; its wording does not establish that all 125 happened at night.

Transport for NSW’s public engagement page specified a planned start of 3 December 2024 and a six-month duration. The ministerial announcement said the agency would review data and customer insights after six months to decide whether to extend the trial or use the technology elsewhere. These sources describe the plan and review intention; they do not establish that the trial concluded or that it was extended.

Victoria

Victoria’s government announced photoluminescent line or sign trials in eastern, south-western and northern parts of the state, as well as on a Bendigo shared user path, in August 2021. The announcement described the markings as functioning like ordinary lines in daylight and emitting stored light in darkness, but did not publish outcome data. Read the Victorian Government announcement.

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How do glow road markings work?

Photoluminescent paint absorbs and stores energy from sunlight during the day, then emits light after dark. The intended benefit is to make road markings and the shape of the road easier to see, including where street lighting is impractical. Unlike conventional retroreflective lines, which reflect a vehicle’s headlights back toward the driver, a photoluminescent marking is intended to provide some visible delineation without depending on a headlight beam as its light source.

That distinction does not by itself establish which system performs better on a real road. A 2019 review by the Western Australian Road Research and Innovation Program (WARRIP) noted that a film of water can reduce the retroreflectivity of conventional lines. It also identified questions relevant to luminescent markings: how well they perform in wet weather, how long the glow lasts, how they compare with headlights, and whether the material meets road-marking requirements. The review’s observations concern the technologies it assessed at that time, not measurements of the Bulli Pass product. Read the 2019 WARRIP review.

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What was tested before the NSW road trial?

Before the public-road phase, Transport for NSW said it tested the markings at its Future Mobility Testing and Research Centre in Cudal. A car, truck, motorcycle and bicycle used the controlled course, and skid testing checked whether slip resistance matched existing markings. The announcement does not provide numerical results or detailed test methods, so it is not possible to assess the results independently from that account.

Transport for NSW Secretary Josh Murray said the tests were intended to ensure the new markings were ready for the next phase of the trial. That statement describes the agency’s rationale and process; it is not an independent finding that the markings improve safety on public roads.

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Do the lines make driving safer?

That remains unproven in the sources available here. Transport for NSW presented improved visibility as the purpose of the Bulli Pass trial, but a trial announcement, controlled testing and a plan to review data are not evidence of fewer crashes or near-misses. The government material reviewed does not publish a Bulli Pass safety evaluation establishing a measured benefit.

The NSW figures cited in government materials also need their original qualifications. In the 2024 announcement, Roads Minister John Graham attributed the statement that around one-third of fatal crashes in NSW happen at night to “Data,” without identifying the dataset, period or definition in that passage. Transport for NSW’s undated public project page, accessed in 2026, says over a third of NSW fatal crashes occur at night, 70% of road deaths happen in regional areas, and 10% of Bulli Pass near-misses occurred at night—described there as nearly double the regional-roads average. That page does not identify the underlying datasets or relevant periods in those passages. These figures should not be merged or treated as an evaluation of the markings.

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What uncertainties matter for drivers?

The 2019 WARRIP review offers useful historical cautions, but it predates the NSW trial and assessed products of its time. It reported that the initial 2014 trial in Oss, Netherlands, had insufficient light output in heavy moisture; some drivers also drove without headlights to experience the glow. The review relayed a Scottish Road Research Board assessment that glow may fade after sunset and that ambient light or direct headlights may overpower it.

For the products reviewed, WARRIP said it found no information demonstrating compliance with applicable Main Roads WA requirements for retroreflectivity or skid resistance, or establishing diffused reflectivity, durability and expected lifecycles. Those findings are not proof that the NSW trial paint has the same weaknesses. The report’s recommendation that Main Roads take no further action until the technologies matured was a dated recommendation from 2019, not a current national policy or an assessment of later products.

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To judge the Bulli Pass treatment against ordinary markings or street lighting, a published evaluation would need to show how it performs in rain, fog, shade and prolonged darkness; how visible it remains relative to vehicle headlights; whether it meets slip-resistance and road-marking specifications; and how durable and maintainable it is. The cited materials do not provide a complete head-to-head assessment on those points.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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