The Federal Highway Safety Administration has identified a correlation between traffic accidents and older drivers. Part of the problem is caused be their inability to properly see traffic signs at night. The older engineering grade sheeting material, along with faded and damaged signs, doesn’t reflect back bright enough for them to see the sign properly.
In 2015 there were over 40 million drivers over the age of 65 on the road, and those numbers continue to increase every year. It is estimated that over 90% of this demographic still travel by personal vehicle. So ensuring their safety, and the safety of others is a high priority.
One of the solutions identified by the Federal Highway Safety Administration is to ensure signs are being upgraded to high intensity retroreflective sheeting material. Upgrading poorly maintained or degraded signs can reduce and avoid traffic accidents and injuries.
Using the proper sheeting material will allow the vehicles headlights to properly reflect back to the drivers eyes, allowing them to see the sign. When faded or damaged the reflection doesn’t reflect back correctly and makes it harder, or even impossible to read the sign, which can lead to an accident.
It is estimated that night time fatalities due to traffic accidents are around three times higher than day time accidents. So it is extremely important to make sure that signs are up to date with the proper sheeting material, making them more visible to all drivers. It is the responsibility of public agencies to make sure they are compliant with the minimum reflectivity requirements as outlined by the Federal Highway Safety Administration.
Having a comprehensive and up to date traffic sign inventory can help identify outdated, faded, or damaged signs. This gives you to tool needed to budget and maintain traffic signs, as well as a defense in tort liability claims associated with traffic signs and accidents in your jurisdiction. Properly maintaining your signs should be a high priority, and using the proper tools is the first step in compliance with the Federal Highway Safety Administration guidelines.
Contact Mid-West GIS to learn more about our traffic sign inventory services
It took Mid-West GIS approximately three months to Collect, Quality Control, and deliver the data to the city. There were over 13,000 signs collected, and 22 different attributes documented. In addition, one digital photo was taken of the face of each sign and hyperlinked to the GPS point.
Mid-West GIS continues to refine and improve data collection techniques to ensure the most accurate data possible is delivered to our clients. The field collection process for a traffic sign inventory involves the use of highly accurate GPS equipment to collect the coordinates of the traffic sign. The use of aerial photos is used for quality control of the location as well, by viewing the placement of the point in the field as it’s collected. Once the location is stored there are approximately 20 additional attributes that are collected to identify features of both the sign and the support structure. Some of the attributes collected are: Sign Type, MUTCD Code, Size, Sheeting Material Type, Sign Condition, Support Type, Support Condition, Digital Photo, and many others. Mid-West GIS also collects ALL signs in our projects, so that any sign on routes maintained by our clients are collected, giving the a complete and comprehensive traffic sign inventory.