A Decrease in Visibility Equals an Increase in Accidents

 

 

If you ever troll the US Highway Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration's website, under the tab resources is a plethora of infrmation about traffic safety including:

Highway Safety Program

• Construction Safety


• Data and Analysis Tools


• Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing


• Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) / Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP)


• High Risk Rural Roads Program


• Intersection Safety


• Local & Rural Road Safety


• NCHRP Report 350 - Roadside Hardware


• Older Road User


• Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety


• Road Safety Audits


• Roadway Departure Safety


• Rumble Strips Community of Practice


• Safe Routes to School


• Speed Management


• Stop Red Light Running Program


• Transparency Reports (5 Percent)


• Transportation Safety Planning (TSP)


• Visibility and Retroreflectivity


• Work Zone Management

On this occasion, I happened onto the Visibility and Retroreflectivity tab because, well, I like to look at shiny things, and I'm interested to see and hear statistics about high visibility vests and safety on our highways and roadways.

Turns out, per the USDOT FHWA, about half of traffic fatalities occur at night, although only about one quarter of travel occurs after dark. Although intoxication and fatigue contribute to the high rate of nighttime crashes, nighttime driving is inherently hazardous because of decreased driver visibility.

 

Adequately maintained retroreflective signs and pavement markings improve highway safety and prevent roadway departure crashes by bouncing light from vehicle headlights back toward the vehicle and the driver's eyes, making the signs and markings appear brighter and easier to see and read. Because the retroreflective properties of traffic control devices deteriorate over time, highway agencies need to actively manage the maintenance of signs and pavement markings in order to ensure that they are clearly visible at night.

 

Roadway lighting is another means to increase visibility for drivers and other roadway users. Properly designed roadway lighting allows road users to quickly assess roadway conditions and creates a safe environment within the roadw ay vicinity. New technologies to reduce the long-term costs of lighting need to be balanced with understanding  and addressing the needs of the road user.

 

For more information, visit the FHWA Safety Page.

 



 

 

High visibility safety vest made with Ultra-Cool economy 100% polyester mesh fabric. It has a zipper closure on the front and 2-inch wide VizLite silver reflective material. This hi-vis safety vest features an outside left chest radio pocket, an inside lower right patch pocket, and an inside right chest pocket. It is available in either Lime or Orange, and is ANSI Class 3 compliant.

• Ultra-Cool economy mesh vest, 100% polyester


• Zipper front closure


• 2-inch wide VizLite silver reflective material


• Outside left chest radio pocket, inside lower right patch pocket, inside right chest pocket


• Comes in Lime or Orange


• ANSI Class 3 compliant

 

For ANSI class 3 and other highway/roadway construction gear, choose Hi-Vis Supply.