In a somewhat related practice, some roads in the Tour de France this year have been painted with "white shit" (rider Tom Pidcock's words) in order to combat the asphalt melting in the heat, with the unfortunate side-effect that it seems to be slippery and several riders (including Tom Pidcock) crashed going around a corner when the lost traction.

Coverage here: https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-fran...

But of course, this was done in response to past serious crashes that occured because the asphalt melted. So, it's sort of a damned if you do damned if you dont scenario for the organizers.

At least they're doing something.

I couldn't believe the state of US railtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X2A2f6E5DI

Just go slower! We don't want to pay for maintenance. What's the worst that could happen? You derail and your toxic payload catches fire and poisons the neighbourhood?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Palestine,_Ohio,_train_de...

I love a simple solution to billion dollar problems

Reducing derailment by decreasing track movement by painting the does of the track white, to reflect heat absorbed from the sun.

Practical Engineering already explained the correct solution to this problem:

https://youtu.be/zqmOSMAtadc?si=UUlmnk9sI-leq0SV

But of course, American infrastructure was built on the cheap, and is not maintained correctly. This is why we can't have nice things.