Category Archives: transportation safety

TREND. Amend statewide ride share laws with more reporting. Safety First.

After passing statewide ride share laws states, like North Dakota, seek to amend their laws.

What do states want to change about their ride share laws?

  • More detailed information about ride share driver incidents
  • Greater detail on the severity of incidents
  • Ensure disclosure of the number of traffic violations
  • More details about the statewide number of drivers to compare the incidents to those in the overall driving public

WDAZ | Lawmakers may boost reporting requirements for Uber, Lyft next…

Regulatory Trend. Procurement Opportunity. Tech to Detect Wrong Way Drivers.

Arizona Department of Transportation is rolling out 1st of its kind wrong way detection technology.

How does the new fandangled technology work?

  • Thermal cameras detect a wrong-way vehicle along an off-ramp
  • When triggered, an illuminated wrong-way sign with flashing lights alerts drivers

The winning contract: a $1.89 million bid from Contractors West Inc. of Mesa

Equipment World | Arizona moves forward on “first of its kind” wrong-way detection system

Anatomy of a MultiState Connected Car Coalition. 3 Policy Areas of Focus.

Michigan, Ohio & Pennsylvania Departments of Transportation have joined forces with universities to focus on automated and connected vehicle initiative.

3 Target Research Areas to Guide Policy Decisions:

  • Connected and automated applications in work zones
  • Commercial freight opportunities in testing, including platooning (connecting more than one vehicle) and potential coordination on interstates. (
    • Bonjour, TAMU’s freight project at the Houston Port.
  • Incident management to improve…

Record year of Truck Bridge Collisions. 3 Bits Informed Intel from Houston.

Why is Houston seeing more trucks hitting bridges this year?

  • good economy means more truck traffic
  • the Port of Houston traffic is up 11% since 2016

What transportation options are available?

  • TXDOT points to improving roads outside the Loop to keep trucks out of the city core
  • Researchers at Texas A&M are working on laser warning systems to keep overheigth trucks from hitting bridges.

How many truck – bridge hits have occurred in 2017?

  • 22
  • The record, 30, was set in 2016

Houston Public Radio…

Road Building Trend. 3 Key Elements of Reduced Conflict Intersections.

Minnesota is deploying Reduced Conflict Intersections to increase traffic safety.

Reduced Conflict Intersections are employed on multi-lane highway intersections and offer increased safety by:

  • limiting turns to right from a smaller roadway onto a higher speed road
  • allowing for u-turn at an opening in the median
  • prohibiting left turns

The safety data for reduced conflict intersections shows:

  • 100% reduction of fatal and serious injury right-angle crashes
  • 77% fewer all severity right-angle…

Legal Trend. Judge Orders Those Guilty of DUI to Download Ride Share App

The Judge: Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti of Painesville, OH

Sentencing of driving under the influence in Painesville, OH includes:

  • fines
  • possible jail time
  • the use of mobile technology to combat drunken drivers

ArsTechnica | A judge is ordering drunken drivers to install Uber, Lyft

Columbus CEO | Ohio judge orders DUI defendants to download Uber, Lyft apps

Procurement Trend. State Department of Transportation Wants to Connect All Cars in a Work Zone

Where is this happening? Michigan

What company is the private partner with Michigan? 3M

What’s the collaborative goal?  “To implement connected vehicle technology on a stretch of work zone on Interstate 75 that is more than 3 miles long”

What is 3M bringing to the table in this partnership?

♦  Advanced all-weather lane markings

♦  Retroreflective signs with smart sign technology

♦  Dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) devices for vehicle-to-infrastructure communications

♦…