Skip to main content

Latest pedestrian safety technology from McCain

Designed to boost driver awareness of pedestrians, McCain says its latest technology for pedestrian safety, the rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB), is widely recognised as a means to reduce accidents between vehicles and pedestrians at intersections and mid-block crosswalks without traffic signals. An ideal solution for a range of applications, the RRFB has highly visible high-intensity LEDs which remain dark until activated by a pedestrian, when the lights flash in a wig-wag pattern, alerting appr
March 19, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Designed to boost driver awareness of pedestrians, 772 McCain says its latest technology for pedestrian safety, the rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB), is widely recognised as a means to reduce accidents between vehicles and pedestrians at intersections and mid-block crosswalks without traffic signals.

An ideal solution for a range of applications, the RRFB has highly visible high-intensity LEDs which remain dark until activated by a pedestrian, when the lights flash in a wig-wag pattern, alerting approaching vehicles that pedestrians are present.

According to McCain, RRFBs are rapidly gaining popularity as an inexpensive and effective alternative for improving compliance and facilitating pedestrian crossing manoeuvres; generally delivering driver compliance of around 80 per cent.

Following an extensive study confirming the effectiveness, the 831 Federal Highway Administration issued an interim approval of the RRFB in the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). According to the approval, the RRFB offers “significant potential safety and cost benefits, because it achieves very high rates of compliance at a very low relative cost in comparison to other more restrictive devices that provide comparable results, such as full midblock signalisation.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cameras to target dangerous drivers at West Sussex level crossing
    February 10, 2017
    The UK’s Network Rail is installing red light safety cameras at a level crossing in West Sussex to stop drivers putting lives at risk. The new cameras will be equipped with number plate recognition technology, meaning motorists misusing the crossing can now be automatically identified and prosecuted by British Transport Police. These types of cameras were first introduced on Britain’s rail network in 2015 and, according to Network Rail, have since proven to be extremely successful with driver non-comp
  • Mounting benefits of dynamic tolling project
    January 30, 2012
    Wisconsin's four-year HOT lanes pilot project, launched in May 2008, cost US$18.8 million to construct. Halfway into the project, which uses variably priced, or dynamic, tolling to improve highway efficiency, the benefits are mounting. The problem was obvious, and frustrating, to anyone who ever sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic on State Route 167 and watched a lone car whiz by every 20 seconds or so in the carpool lane. But for planners at the Washington State Department of Transportation, the conundrum was
  • McCain to distribute Polara pedestrian safety systems
    April 12, 2017
    US transportation solutions supplier McCain is to distribute the Polara Enterprises range of accessible pedestrian signals and ADA-compliant pedestrian technology and push buttons in Southern California. The exclusive agreement includes the newly-released Polara iNavigator series, which uses wireless communication via an iOS Apple or desktop app for easy programming and communication. Polara accessible pedestrian systems (APS) utilize audible tones, speech messages, and vibrations to communicate to pedes
  • US study finds cameras reduce red light running
    January 28, 2013
    The latest research by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that red light running rates declined at Arlington, Virginia, intersections equipped with cameras. The decreases were particularly large for the most dangerous violations, those happening 1.5 seconds or longer after the light turned red. "This study provides fresh evidence that automated enforcement can get drivers to modify their behaviour," says Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at IIHS and the study's lead au