Skip to main content

Rhode Island to install wrong-way driver warning system

Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) is planning to invest US$2 million in a new system aimed at decreasing the number of wrong-way drivers on the state’s highways. According to Robert Rocchio, managing engineer of traffic and safety at RIDOT, the state sees a minimum of one fatal crash per year due to drivers going the wrong way on the state's major highways. RIDOT hopes to begin installing intelligent transportation systems on highway off-ramps at twenty different locations across the s
March 5, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) is planning to invest US$2 million in a new system aimed at decreasing the number of wrong-way drivers on the state’s highways.

According to Robert Rocchio, managing engineer of traffic and safety at RIDOT, the state sees a minimum of one fatal crash per year due to drivers going the wrong way on the state's major highways.

RIDOT hopes to begin installing intelligent transportation systems on highway off-ramps at twenty different locations across the state as early as April.

The devices would be able to detect vehicles entering the highway on off-ramps, and would cause two wrong-way signs to flash in attempt to alert the driver to their error. If the driver continues past those signs, the state police would be notified.  Warnings will also be placed on overhead digital signs currently on the state’s highways.

In addition to the automated components, the US$2 million project will also include increased signage and markers on every off ramp in the state.

Related Content

  • Transport technology transforming bus stops in Los Angeles
    January 20, 2012
    David Crawford reports on a pioneering blend of transport technology and aesthetic By gaining a design award before installation has even started, the US$6.9 million City of Santa Monica (California)'s Big Blue Bus Shelter and Branding Package has ensured early interest among what it expects to be a new wave of transit riders. The American Institute of Architects' Los Angeles chapter's recently conferred 'Next LA Citation Award for Architecture', given for design excellence in projects as yet unbuilt, comm
  • ANPR - cost-efficient traffic management, enforcement and more
    January 23, 2012
    Geoff Collins of Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions talks about the near-term prospects of ANPR. The continued absence of a champion for its cause is preventing digital enforcement technology from delivering the true levels of cost-effectiveness of which it is capable, according to Geoff Collins, sales and marketing director of ANPR specialist Vysionics Intelligent Traffic Solutions.
  • Mixed results for public-private traffic management partnerships
    January 25, 2012
    David Crawford looks at the somewhat patchy success to date of trying to involve the private sector in operating traffic management centres
  • Moveble barriers improve workzone safety, reduce costs
    January 25, 2012
    Two phases of an arterial reconstruction project in Salt Lake City have provided a compelling cost-based argument for moveable barriers.