Electric corner signs alert riders

Signs that light up and display a safety alert and message if you are riding too fast for the corner are being trialled in the UK.

British company TWM Traffic Control Systems have developed the LED signs that include a radar sensor.

Be alert, not alarmed

But don’t worry! The smart alert signs are not designed to issue speeding tickets, says TWM spokesmen Chris Rayner. At least for now!

“It’s purely advisory,” he assures us.

“It’s to aid riders or drivers and alert them to the potential dangers ahead. What you can do is have a function to record the activity along the road, traffic counts, speeds etc.”

The sign will display the rider’s speed and an alert such as SLOW DOWN, or CRASH SITE and flash amber LEDs.

When the vehicle then slows down and the speed falls below the secondary threshold limit, the sign displays THANK YOU with the real-time speed.

Warning signs

It’s similar to speed alert signs used around Australia and a Texas University project that developed stop signs that light up as a vehicle approaches.

Safer stop signs alert
Texas electronic stop signs

The TWM signs may help riders handle dangerous decreasing radius corners, but we wonder what they consider a safe corner speed for each vehicle.

For example, a motorcycle could easily handle a corner at a higher speed than a sports car which would be better than an SUV which would be better than a truck…!

Chris says the signs would allow the authorities to monitor the impact of approach speeds.

“The averages and 85th percentiles will all be calculated so further measures can be put in place if needed,” he says.

Our concern is that this could lead lower speed limits!

“We have been doing similar signage for various dangers, hazards and speed indication since 2002,” Chris says.

“I’m a biker myself and we have been supplying Isle of Man with some of our DayBright units for enhanced pedestrian crossings … I’m speaking to them to see if the crash site (sign) is something they could utilise as well.”

While the signs may be advisory now, we wonder how long before authorities use them to issue speeding tickets!

Source: MotorbikeWriter.com

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