Maybe it’s just me. Have they ceased using reflective material (whatever it is) in the paint for dividing lines? It seems to me the world is a scary enough place without having to guess where the road is divided, especially when the roads are wet at night.
And if I can’t see 'em, how do old folks see 'em. You know, people in their forties.
It depends on how cheap your city or county is. Reflecting paint is a two step process in that they lay down a hot, plastic-like paint in liquid form, then instantly dust it with fine glass beads. Those are the reflectors. Sometimes they will put down temporary lines without beads. Often the lines are made thick to rise above the pavement and stand out of any normal water due to rains but since that takes up additional paint, the road department might be watching its budget and keep them low, being more concerned with money than people. The same reason applies to not putting the glass beads down. Cheap. Those reflectors are great, the ones which they put every so many feet and stick out of the road. They are actually ‘glued’ down with a gob of the line paint and, in my opinion, are life savers! Different colors mean different things, like blue indicates a fire plug directly across from it, yellow is the guide line and red is an intersection.
I grew up in Colorado and had never once seen the reflective stripes until moving to DC.
I think their presence depends on the climate of your location - i.e., the amount and frequency of snow a place receives. A major thoroughfare in Colorado might get plowed 40-50 days out of the year, each day consisting of dozens - if not hundreds - of passes by the snowplow. Those raised strips would be gone by the end of each winter!
DC/MD/VA, on the other hand, do not get nearly as much snow, so the reflective stripes actually last long enough to be considered worthwhile.
~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~