Dr. Botts worked for the DOT. He died before they were officially used as a remedy to painted lines disappearing under water. Tested in Sacramento around 1955, the research was rediscovered after Bott's death and officially used on I-80 in 1965.
Raised markers were an idea from the 30's but not until the postwar economic boom put massive amounts of cars on the road, did they take the project seriously. Bott's is accredited for creating the epoxy which glues them to the road... but honestly, his first attempt was to affix them to the road with nails and that fucked a lot of cars up. Some sources say that one of his prodigies actually came up with the epoxy.
Bott's dots are not used in states where snow plows will scrape them off the road, with the exception of temporary Bott's dots placed in construction zones between spring and early winter.
Preceding the Bott's Dot was the Cats Eye.
It's from the UK and was in use when the USA was toying with the idea of raised markers. When war was causing city blackouts, street side rail lines were the best tactile markers for motorists, hence the innovation for raised markers.
In 1999 one of the Cats Eye road studs became dislodged by a van, and punched through the windshield of an oncoming automobile, hitting Drum and Bass DJ Kemistry in the face, killing her instantly.
Kemistry introduced Goldie to the drum and bass scene and they co founded the label Metalheadz.
