Clearview Intelligence sees signs of improvement at dangerous junction
A road safety initiative installed at a crossroad junction has reduced collisions and delivered a 97 percent first year rate of return against the potential cost of an accident.
Clearview Intelligence and Scotland TranServ worked in partnership to install vehicle detection and vehicle activated signs (VAS) at the Crosshands junction between Kilmarnock and Mauchline in Scotland.
Over nearly five years (58 months) between 2012 and 2016, there were seven reported accidents at the junction, which is located at the bottom of a hidden dip. But since the scheme has been implemented there have been just two collisions in 22 months, representing a reduction of 0.4 accidents a year.
Chris Keenan, General Manager, Scotland for Clearview Intelligence, said: “Previously, drivers travelling along the A76 would only have sight of the junction – and any traffic turning out of the B744 – once they had started to descend the hill. This would provide limited time for them to react to vehicles crossing or turning out of the side road and onto the main carriageway.
“The benefits of VAS installation have been two-fold. Its positioning in advance of the hill brow forewarns drivers of traffic at the junction below but also alerts them if they are travelling above a safe speed for the road. To have achieved a 97 percent first year rate of return on investment is outstanding and demonstrates the impact this initiative is already having on the safety of motorists using the road.”
Solar powered technology was installed along both stretches of the B744 sideroad to detect when traffic is waiting to turn onto the A76. Clearview’s count and classify system detects when vehicles are waiting by using inductive loops and transmits this information to the VAS signs which are positioned in both directions of the A76, in advance of the hill.
The VAS signs, which are also solar powered, then display a ‘vehicle turning’ alert to forewarn of traffic at the junction below. The same signs also use radar detection to issue ‘slow down’ warnings to vehicles travelling above a safe speed for that stretch of the A76.
Since its implementation, accidents at this junction have reduced from an average of 1.4 a year to one.
Vincent Tait, Road Safety Manager for Scotland TranServ, said: “Working with Clearview Intelligence we were able to establish an innovative solution to a long-standing accident issue, which on being successful can be used at numerous locations across the trunk road network.”
