Thanks to these road safety innovations, we're not putting our lives at serious risk every time we get behind the wheel.

When we get in our cars, one thing most of us will take for granted more often than not is the fact that there will be lines, signs, and lights to help guide us on the road.

In the early part of the 20th century, none of those things even existed. Back then, there were barely any roads at all, what roads there were, were usually dirt and strewn with horse manure. To say the least, infrastructure has come a long way since then. The first step was to pave all the roads and then slowly but surely increase the availability of gasoline, but as time marched on cars got more efficient, more powerful and a whole lot more common.

This had an adverse effect on safety with more road deaths occurring every year, at first the cars were blamed, but they were not the only problem, the roads were also outdated and dangerous.

Although there are a few conflicting reports and the odd myth about road lines, Edward Hines has been credited with this invention in 1911.

Before then, traffic was not separated at all, lines were not commonly used until the 30s, when cars had already gotten a lot bigger and a lot more powerful. Head on collisions were both common and nearly always fatal.

One thing that has been around since the Romans built roads all throughout Europe connecting their empire is road signs.

Without signs, it becomes a whole lot more difficult to navigate an area you have never been to and as much as GPS technology has made travel more convenient, nothing beats a simple sign telling us where we are.

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Lines and signs combine well to create simple stop signs, but it was clear something more efficient was necessary when it comes to intersections.

Some countries favored roundabouts, which are effective in countries that invest more in driver education, but an idiot-proof solution was already invented by the 20s, and started getting used all over the world by the 40s and 50s. Traffic lights remove any debate at intersections and for the most part improve traffic flow.

A big advancement for traffic lights was when controllers started getting used by the 50s, most controllers still rely on an electromagnetic loop which will sense a vehicle and trigger the light.

Unfortunately, these are still imperfect systems and don’t detect small vehicles that don’t have enough metal to trigger the electromagnetic loop, which can lead to somebody waiting at a red light for an awfully long time before they realize the green is never actually coming.

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One of the biggest safety innovations directly related to the safety of night driving is reflective markers that show us where the lines are even when it is too dark to see the actual lines.

Known as Botts Dots in the US and Cat’s Eyes in the rest of the English-speaking world, these reflective markers also provide a physical warning if you stray out of your lane and drive over them, acting as mini speed bumps.

Another big leap forward for night driving was reflective signage, this invention is credited to Harry Heltzer while working for 3M in the 30s.

Over the years, reflective technology has improved and degrades far slower than it did in the early years.

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Although street illumination has been around since gaslights were popular (and also pretty dangerous) streetlights have become significantly more affordable today.

Street lighting is also no longer only confined to the cities but also extends on sections of major highways, making it safer than ever to travel at night.

Less of an innovation and more of a practical application of new technology has been the emergence of solar power.

It makes installing streetlights exponentially more affordable and far easier in far-flung areas, it has also seen a rise in the use of active “Botts Dots” which have small solar-powered lights that illuminate the streets.

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In the past, mountain passes were always genuinely scary because there were no guardrails on the sides of the road and any mistake would be punished severely.

Today, mountain passes and bends will all get this safety net added, so minor accidents don’t turn out fatal.

Unfortunately for all of us enthusiasts, the simple reality is that the biggest safety hazard on the roads today is us, human error is real, we all make mistakes.

At present, so do autonomous vehicles, but experience tells us that this technology will improve and in a few years time we will see a rise in its use. There is no denying it will have its place, public transport is an obvious target and will one day make the roads a safer place.

Luke Zietsman is an all out automotive enthusiast based in The Philippines. If it has two or four wheels he has either owned it, researched about it or dreamed about it.