Telstar said: "I think the final hole in the swiss cheese lining up could have been prevented by proper phraseology like this:
TWR: Cleared for takeoff Runway 22 etcf etc"
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Midland 331 said: "A high-hours long-haul NW captain once proposed that a huge difference could be made to the US runway incursion problem by more thorough signage."
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But Maybe: if there was a facility for the controller to re-phase the brilliance on the runway lighting as he issued the take-off clearance (perhaps via a foot treadle).....
Most runway lights are stage-stepped in brilliance. If the runway lights brightness dropped to stage 1 and then via a timer over 3 to 5 seconds, stepped up from 1 through 2,3,4,5 etc then there would be no doubt in a lined up pilot's mind (and any a/c on finals would know that another aircraft is about to launch on that same runway). Might cover the night-time case anyway.
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Alternatively, (and works for daytime low visibility also), have the PAPI's do a very quick cyclic light-show (as in "Close Encounters of the Third Kind")
That might be a smarter add-on use of the PAPI's than the FAA's proposed FAROS system.... and would just require a cheap bit of Radio-Shack circuitry in the Tower's lighting console.