Your technology key to the future
A Traffic Management Solution to improve road safety and adherence to speed limits
Impact of Speed Violations
One of the key contributing factors to vehicle accidents is high speed, causing almost 50% of all fatal accidents.
Improved adherence to recommended speed limits will significantly reduce loss of life and injury and significantly reduce cost to the economy as a result of preventable accidents.
Time for a New Approach
Law enforcement via traffic fines is one of the measures available to improve adherence to recommended traffic speeds.
A caricatured view of a traffic officer is one hiding behind a bush with a speed measuring device, ready to pounce on unsuspecting road users. This view is the result of over-utilization of law enforcement to calm traffic, albeit a necessary approach.
SpeedPanel is a radar speed sign technology which enables a self-regulating approach to calm traffic by informing road users of their speed. This approach opens the possibility to present speed calming as a community project to improve road safety.
International experience with radar speed signs indicate that radar speed signs combined with targeted law enforcement is the most effective traffic management approach.
Practical tests prove that drivers will reduce vehicle speed if made aware that they are travelling at a speed in access of the speed limit. SpeedPanel therefore calms traffic and improves road safety, by informing drivers when they violate speed limits.
SpeedPanel also measures traffic statistics and enables informed Traffic Management Decisions. Using statistics gathered by SpeedPanel, road signage may be improved or law enforcement may be selectively applied to improve adherence to traffic regulations.
International Experience
Studies show that the majority of the stationary radar signs continue to reduce 85th percentile speeds even though some have been installed for more than four years. In one study cited in this report, the radar signs were installed at curved roadways where 10 truck rollover crashes were previously reported. Three years after the signs were in operation, no rollover crashes had been reported.
Study results also showed that the speed of vehicles began to be reduced when the driver recognized the presence of a radar sign, and the average speed was reduced by about 17.5% (8.2 km/h) at the radar sign location. A growing body of traffic related research confirms that radar speed signs are effective in calming traffic.
Traffic Statistics and Analysis
In addition to traffic calming, radar speed panels capture speed statistics for offline analysis to enable informed traffic management decisions. Traffic statistics include traffic density profile and traffic speed profile. The captured data is downloaded from the SpeedPanel via a wireless data link for further processing.
The following graphs are examples of the information available from SpeedPanel. The information is useful in focusing law enforcement effort on the right locations and at the right time of day for effective traffic management.
The following are typical features:
• Capture and download vehicle count and speed statistics
• Wireless downloading of data
• Excel-compatible reporting & analysis:
• Average speeds
• 85th Percentile speeds
• Date and time windows
• Total vehicles
• Moving averages
SpeedPanel Deployment Options
SpeedPanel is available in the following deployment options:
• Pole Mount
• Trailer Mount
• Optional Advanced Traffic Statistics gathering
SpeedPanel is best suited for deployment in the following situations:
• High risk areas such as schools or close to pedestrian crossings
• Sites with high accident rates
• Construction sites
• Gathering traffic statistics
• Pacify traffic in quiet residential areas
• Game reserves where reduced speed limits are enforced
Conclusion
SpeedPanel improves road safety and enables informed traffic management decisions.