VALUES: Creativity; Love; Light.
STORY: Every evening Peter Shaw drove from his work in Bradford to his home in Halifax, England. The road was narrow, dark, with many twists and turns and the visibility was usually poor. He could hardly see where he was going. At night, the motorists using this road would turn on their headlights and follow the tramlines that ran down the middle of the road. (Trams were a type of train that used to run on steel lines on the same road as the cars.)
With the passing of time, the trams were no longer used and the steel lines were removed from the road, making the road even more dangerous than before.
One cold, wet, foggy night, as he carefully crawled his way home, Peter saw two bright pinpricks of light in the road ahead which guided him. As he drove around a slight bend, he noticed that the lights were caused by headlights of his car reflecting in the eyes of a cat sitting on the fence next to the road.
And so one of the greatest inventions in road safety came about. Peter Shaw designed the first “cat’s eyes” that are now found on main highways and dangerous roads all around the world. The reflection from the “cat’s eyes” brings comfort and a sense of safety to many motorists driving at night who would, otherwise, have to drive almost blind.
TEACHING POINT:
What kind of reflection do you give off? What do others see when they look at, and speak to you? Do you reflect bright, good things that make others feel happy and secure?
School Assembly Stories