Did You Know? - Vehicle-Mounted Safety Signs are Effective at Reducing Roadside Collisions?
March 5th 2023
Highway work zone crashes are an unfortunate reality for roadside workers. However, these crashes are avoidable if drivers would slow down and move over to allow the roadside workers enough space to safely carry out their duties.
Recently, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety conducted two field studies on busy roads in an attempt to determine the effectiveness of various countermeasures like vehicle-mounted variable message signs (VMS), cones, flares, and more. In short, the AAA Foundation found that VMS was very effective [1].
With VMS activated, drivers changed lanes and slowed down more than when the VMS was not operating – with the odds of a vehicle “moving over” 95 percent higher with VMSs in use [2].
Passenger vehicles were more responsive to VMSs than trucks or buses, although both were more likely to move over when VMS was active than when not [2].
The Foundation did find that cones, flares, and emergency flashing light patterns led to significant lane shifts by drivers but were less effective at reducing speeds or increasing the distance to the passing vehicles that did not change lanes [1].
Given their findings, the AAA Foundation suggests that the use of VMS, nighttime light patterns, cones, or flares can positively impact the behaviors of passing motorists under most, but not all circumstances. It is strongly recommended that service vehicles or fleets utilize these features [1].
If you have questions about your work zone safety matter, contact us today.
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[2] https://aashtojournal.org/2023/02/17/aaa-message-signs-can-boost-work-zone-safety/