Very soon the traditional cones that signal the presence of works on the road will be
replaced by smart devices. The new signs will be able to avoid traffic accidents thanks to the fact that they will allow warning in real time and in advance of the proximity of works in execution.
These cones, geolocated and that give off light flashes, will allow companies to install them and turn them on when work begins, so that a traffic incident will automatically be activated at the Traffic Management Center of the
DGT and this information will be shared in real time through the DGT 3.0 Platform and the
National Access Pointin such a way that it will allow the driver to have prior information on the execution of works to be found along his journey.
In this way, both the safety of the operators who work on the road at the dangerous moment of placing these signs is increased, as well as that of the drivers who are going to pass through that point and who will be able to receive the information through the variable message signs on the road and in their own connected cars.
The Director General of Traffic,
Peter Navarroand the person in charge of the Demarcation of State Roads in Madrid,
Gloria Ramos, have been in charge of presenting the new connected cones for works, which will begin to be used soon. It is not the first time that these elements are used in the testing phase. Last July, its use was already tested during the Galician cycling event «Gran Fondo Ézaro-Fin do Camiño».
Works and accidents
According to the DGT every year they are carried out on the road
more than 10,000 works that generate more than 100,000 traffic management incidents, that is, traffic cuts, narrowing of lanes, or detours that must be signaled.
The implantation and placement of these signs is
one of the most dangerous jobs for road operators, since it constitutes a surprise element for drivers who do not have advance notice. The General Directorate of Traffic, in this sense, has proposed as a line of action in the field of increasing the safety of the roads “the real-time warning of the proximity to works in progress” through the informative luminous panels.
According to data from the National Registry of Traffic Accident Victims, in 2021 there were 158 traffic accidents related to road maintenance and upkeep works, of which
17 involved workers who worked or they walked on the road or its surroundings as pedestrians. Of these 17 victims, 2 lost their lives run over by a vehicle that was either traveling along the roadworks section at excessive speed with respect to the specific limit set for that section or whose driver was distracted. The other 141 traffic accidents in sections of works involved conservation and maintenance operators inside their vehicles.
Road signage is one of the relevant actions reflected in the Spanish Road Safety Strategy 2030, which identifies safe roads as a strategic area, in accordance with the integrated safe system approach and assumes, among its lines of action in that field, promote safe, sustainable and intelligent infrastructure and traffic safety management procedures and design solutions.
immediate information
signage
in the sections of works It fulfills a double mission since, on the one hand, it organizes traffic, adapting it to the new circumstances of the road and, on the other, it adapts circulation to the presence of operators working on the road for better protection. The correct signaling in these cases is especially important because they must offer drivers as much information as possible that allows them to adapt their driving to the circumstances of each case.
The presentation of
the new cones It has taken place coinciding with the start of the new surveillance and control campaign of the General Directorate of Traffic that started last Monday and that this time will be focused, for the first time, on works on interurban traffic routes.
This campaign, which will last
until next Sunday, October 30wants to focus on drivers’ compliance with the signs established in roadwork sections, so as to help reduce both the risks inherent to the human factor, such as speeding on said sections, lane changes inappropriate or distractions.
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