Carmanah has introduced an LED enhanced stop sign to grab the attention of distracted or sleepy drivers. Light from high-flux, high brightness LEDs in the sign frame shine vertically through a clear acrylic sheet and refracts outwards through the sign legend for uniform illumination of the sign face. Reflective construction ensures visibility in event of power failure. The company says the sign uses 15 watts instead of 192 watts that florescent lighting of stop signs requires. The Edge-Lit LED Stop Sign is compliant with US Federal Highways Administration Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In the United States.
The company points out the statistics compiled by the National Transportation Safety Board about accidents caused by inadvertently running through stop signs. On average about 79,000 accidents per year in the United States are caused by people inadvertently running through stop signs. Although the company claims the signs make the intersections safer, studies would have to be conducted to validate such a claim.
The signs are first to be installed at eight identified problem intersections in a city in Texas. They will be studied and perhaps used elsewhere after the results of the study are known.”We are delighted that the possibilities of our edge-lit signage have captured the imagination of traffic officials,” said Carmanah’s CEO Art Aylesworth. “The illuminated stop sign is an exemplary application of our versatile LED edge-lit sign technology.”