Caltrans reflects latest safety policy

After recent studies, California DoT is reviewing its highway design standards
By David Arminas August 7, 2020 Read time: 1 min
Caltrans has installed two-way reflective markers to prevent potentially fatal mistakes (image credit: Caltrans)

Recent pilot programmes by California’s Department of Transportation - Caltrans – and a university research centre highlight effective measures that have been taken on board by the US state.

The pilot was developed following 10 wrong-way driver related collisions on freeways around the cities of Sacramento and San Diego in the first six months of 2015.

Caltrans engaged the University of California’s Davis Advanced Highway Maintenance and Construction Technology (AHMCT) Research Center to gather data on the rare but often deadly wrong-way driving collisions.
 
One of the prevention measures included in the three-year pilot programme was reflectors that alert drivers who are entering the roadway in the wrong direction - leading to a 44% drop in such offences in San Diego.
 
“Adding the two-way reflective markers proved to be so effective that Caltrans updated its state-wide design standards,” said Toks Omishakin, Caltrans director. 

During the study, Caltrans installed and tested different ways to deter wrong-way drivers along exit ramps in San Diego as well as the city of Sacramento.

There will be more on this story in the North America edition of ITS International September/October 2020 

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Nearly 54,000 UK learner drivers rack up penalty points
    June 26, 2014
    New research from insurance price comparison website Confused.com has found that there are currently nearly 54,000 learner drivers in the UK who have penalty points on their provisional licence. The findings, obtained from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority, reveal that learner drivers are racking up penalty points for motoring offences before officially passing their driving test. According to official figures 53,988 provisional licence holders have valid penalty points on their licence, meaning
    Read More
  • Reflecting on the EU ITS action plan
    January 7, 2013
    How do national policy positions reflect key facets of the European Commission (EC) ITS Action Plan? How useful are memoranda of understanding (MoU) as association tools? How can associations attract more young people to work in ITS? Finding answers to these questions emerged as key challenges for 2013 at the Network of National ITS Association’s November 2012 meeting in Dublin. Commenting on its commitment to work with Ertico-ITS Europe in surveying national action plan stances, Network chair Jennie Mart
    Read More
  • Bigger role for data protection and privacy policies in transportation
    June 11, 2015
    Dr Caitlin Cottrill, lecturer at the University of Aberdeen’s School of Geosciences, examines the impact of privacy legislation on the transportation sector. Growing reliance on big data, underscored by the increasing ubiquity of smart infrastructure and the ‘Internet of Things’, has profoundly impacted the regulatory environment experienced by transportation professionals. This is particularly the case in relation to the privacy of personally identifying information (PII). There has been increased attenti
    Read More
  • ITS needs continuity at the policy-making level
    February 1, 2012
    ITS needs to be sold to politicians in plainer terms and we need to be encouraging greater continuity at the policy-making level says Josef Czako, chairman of the IRF's Policy Committee on ITS. At the ITS World Congress in New York in 2008, the International Road Federation (IRF) held the inaugural meeting of its Policy Committee on ITS. The Policy Committee's formation, says its chairman, Kapsch's Josef Czako, reflects an ongoing concern over the lack of deployment of ITS technology on roads in anything li
    Read More

Highlighted Content