First product to undergo Technology Partnerships

A Technology Partnerships study has been announced to evaluate the safety benefits of a solar-powered traffic signage system designed to minimise crashes on horizontal curves in the US. Part of the US FHWA Highways for Life initiative, evaluations will test the effectiveness of innovative road infrastructure safety technologies that are fully developed and market ready, but have had little use on US roads. Although horizontal curves make up a small percentage of total road miles, they account for 25 per cen
June 25, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Tapco's sequential dynamic curve warning system will be evaluated for two years in several US states
A Technology Partnerships study has been announced to evaluate the safety benefits of a solar-powered traffic signage system designed to minimise crashes on horizontal curves in the US. Part of the US 831 Federal Highway Administration Highways for Life initiative, evaluations will test the effectiveness of innovative road infrastructure safety technologies that are fully developed and market ready, but have had little use on US roads.

Although horizontal curves make up a small percentage of total road miles, they account for 25 per cent of all highway fatalities with the majority of crashes on curves involving lane departures. US company Traffic and Parking Control Company (989 TAPCO) has developed the sequential dynamic curve warning system which consists of a series of solar-powered, LED-enhanced flashing signs that are installed throughout a curve. Approaching vehicles, sensed by radar or other ITS device, trigger the controller that wirelessly activates the LED signs to flash sequentially through the curve to warn speeding drivers to slow down. The two-year Technology Partnerships field study will evaluate the effectiveness of the system in reducing vehicle speeds and in reducing the frequency and/or the severity of curve-related crashes. Participating State DOTs include Missouri, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Colorado.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Freight poses growing problem for city authorities
    March 3, 2017
    Wes Guckert considers possible solutions and countermeasures to the problems of increased freight deliveries in growing cities. In January 2016, the US Department of Transportation (USDoT) conducted a session on the SmartCity Challenge and Urban Freight and Logistics. This session was a follow-up to the USDoT report titled, Beyond Traffic 2045.
    Read More
  • Distraction dominated teen driver accident causes.
    June 3, 2015
    As a new report shows that distracted driving is a bigger cause of accidents than previously thought, Jon Masters asks what should be done to counter this problem. Research carried out by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has shed new light on the dangers of distraction for teen drivers. Six years of study using video analysis has shown that 58% of all crashes involving teen drivers are caused by the driver being distracted and proved that the influence of external factors is stronger than previously th
    Read More
  • Taking the long view of ITS
    March 24, 2015
    Caroline Visser believes the ITS industry must present a coherent case for consideration of the technology to become part of transport policy and planning. As ITS advisor and road finance director for the International Road Federation (IRF) in Geneva, Caroline Visser is well placed to evaluate quantifying the benefits of ITS implementation – a topic about which there is little agreement and even less consistency. She is pressing to get some consistency in the evaluation of ITS deployments through the use of
    Read More
  • Texas A&M offer free campus transport testing
    October 27, 2016
    Free evaluation and testing of transportation systems and products might seem too good to be true - but it isn’t. Colin Sowman reports. Texas A&M University is offering to host transport technology demonstrations and research projects free of charge at its Main and newly-renamed Rellis campuses. The initiative’s aim is to encourage those with technologies that could improve transportation to bring their products, systems and ideas to Texas A&M’s campus where they can be evaluated, tested and demonstrated.
    Read More

Highlighted Content