Every State and Provincial DOT aim is to provide Safe, Reliable Journeys and Informed Drivers. Maintaining a high quality road network and ensuring safety on that network is of paramount importance. Reducing congestion and improving reliability of the network inevitably involves road maintenance and improvement projects.
This work often requires Work Zones to be formed and safety for workers improving the network for all users is key. The cones/barricades at the beginning of a work zone referred to as the taper are the first line of defence for the construction worker and are frequently struck by vehicles that have failed to see them or have not exited the closed lane in sufficient time.
Statistical evidence shows that this occurrence of taper collision accounts for over 50% of near miss incidents in the workzone and can lead to accidents which not only affect the construction workers , but can injure members of the public and cause highway congestion and secondary incidents.
The SynchroGUIDE lamp series was designed to be a simply deployed tool which would not only dynamically enhance the visibility of the work zone entrance as static lamps but at the same time improve driver lane discipline by providing a directional guide.
The SynchroGUIDE product combines the latest in LED lamp and lens technology with synchronisation wireless communications technology to enable cone taper deployment lengths of up to 250 synchronised lamps.
The TRL field study conducted during 2002 on the analysis of the safety benefit of deploying sequential SynchroGUIDE lamps as oppose to static barricade lamps involved alternating the deployment of both types of lamp at the same location over the same nightime periods of between 22:00 to 0300 hrs over a 2 week period.
Loops were stationed every 100 Metres in the closed lane from the entrance to the road work up to 1100m, the graph opposite shows the traffic counts recorded at every 100 metre interval from the zone entrance. The yellow bar is for static lamp and the green bar is for the Sequential SynchroGUIDE lamp.
The results were impressive and it was concluded that the deployment of the sequential lamp had a significant improvement on driver lane discipline in advance of the work zone.
The effectiveness of the sequential lamps is seen consistently from a point 500M from the taper, but also has an effect in half the cases at 600M from the taper.
The Sequential SynchroGUIDE lamps are now specified as part of Chapter 8 of the UK DOT Traffic Signs Manual and are playing a significant role towards meeting road safety targets, visioned for 2010 in the United Kingdom.
Dorman have supplied over 50,000 units to date.
A full copy of the report is available by contacting our offices.
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