Recently, EuroRAP (the European Roads Assessment Programme) and safety testing authority, Euro NCAP, joined forces to call on the motor industry and the highways sector to work together to ensure that safety technologies reach their potential of saving thousands of lives. The condition of road signs and markings could be the greatest hurdle in reaping the benefits of new in-car safety technology In a newly released consultation document issued jointly by the safety organisations, and which is entitled ‘Roads That Cars Can Read’, they assert that the condition of road signs and markings could be the greatest hurdle in reaping the benefits of new in-car safety technology. While the report is based on European roads and technologies, its findings and recommendations are as true for SA roads, and SA municipalities and road authorities would do well to take heed. The report continues that technologies currently available in new cars in the European market are expected to increasingly assist in preventing accidents and injury.
Among these technology breakthroughs are cameras and sensors that are used to read the road ahead and help the vehicle react early if drivers are heading into danger. This however is not possible where signs and road markings are obscured or faded. The document includes a survey of six countries to probe how signing and marking practice still varies around Europe after more than half a century of international conventions. John Dawson, Chairman of EuroRAP says: “Huge sums have been spent developing technology that is revolutionising the safety of our vehicles. Little attention has been given to the quality of basic signing and marking with which drivers currently have to cope. We’ve found no country which systematically measures the quality of signing and marking being achieved. A century after the cat’s eye was invented, technology is again driving this rethink of how the road ahead can be read safely.
The key lesson is that what is good for humans is good for machines.” ‘Roads that Cars can Read’ recommends that those responsible for the roads should work together with the motor industry to create new designs and focus on helping drivers with two early technologies now offered in new cars, ‘Lane Support’ and ‘Speed Alert’. The former works by reading lane markings to determine the position of the vehicle within the lane and steers drifting vehicles back on path, a common origin of crashes. ‘Speed Alert’ allows drivers to choose warnings when exceeding posted roadside speed limits. According to Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General Euro NCAP: “The roadsides of Europe are littered with flowers and shrines.
More than a quarter of road deaths involve running off the road. ‘Lane Support’ gives the driver a warning that’s as physical as hitting a rumble strip on the road. It is estimated more than 2,000 European deaths annually can be prevented with this technology.” “The consequences of missing a change of speed limit have become more serious as more nations have adopted a points system and enforce limits rigorously. The ‘Speed Alert’ system protects the drivers from missing a speed sign, not least when limits chop and change.” The report also recommends that both the roads and motor industries should use this decade to target improved signing and marking on the 10% of Europe’s roads where the majority of travel and the majority of deaths are concentrated involving higher speed crashes. “We now need a full survey of the quality of road signs and markings to measure the real-world variation in signing and marking across borders and define the working tolerances that are acceptable.”
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