Chevron Signs

Chevron Signs

Enhancing Safety on Rural roads

Rural roads aren’t like urban roads. While they can feel safer due to their lower levels of traffic and complexity, the reality is nearly half of all fatal crashes occur in rural locations. Around 17,000 people are killed each year in rural road departure crashes.

The high rate of crashes in rural areas is caused by many factors, including high speeds, sharp turns, poor lighting conditions, and a lack of safety features like pavement markings and guard rails. Fortunately, many of these hazards can be mitigated with effective, if underutilized safety treatments.

85,002

The number of people killed in crashes on rural roads between 2016 and 2020 (source)

45%

The percentage of fatal crashes that occur on rural roads, despite just 19% of the population living there (source)

25%

The percentage of fatal vehicle crashes that occur each year along horizontal curves (source)

3 x

The average crash rate along horizontal curve sections of two-lane rural highways compared to straight sections (source)

Three dual-sided chevron signs seen from the perspective of a driver approaching a curve.

Features of Chevron-MX

Featuring powerful LEDs and embedded connectivity, Carmanah’s chevron signs are proven to reduce in-curve speeds and roadway departures from rural roads, while providing agencies convenient remote access to system locations, statuses, and settings. 

Features:

  • W1-8 sign with LEDs embedded around the chevron symbol
  • Meets MUTCD Standards for color, flash rate, and dimming
  • Ultra-bright simultaneous flash pattern
  • Vehicle-activated or 24/7 operation
  • Single- or double-sided poles/mounts
  • Actionable email and text alerts
  • Built-in knockdown sensor
  • Quick setup and local access with MX Field App™
  • Every system ships with 3 years of free connectivity, remote system access via MX Cloud™

More rural road safety solutions

SpeedCheck Advisory

15- and 18-inch radar-enabled advisory speed signs to alert drivers of an advised speed for a potential road hazard or condition.
speedcheck advisory radar speed sign

LED Stop Signs and Warning Signs

Solar-powered LED enhanced signs for crosswalks, school zones, warning, and stop signs.
carmanah led enhanced stop sign flashing

SpeedCheck-12

12-inch digit radar speed sign for school zones, neighborhood streets, and arterial and rural roadways less than 45 mph.

speedcheck-12 radar speed sign product front view

SpeedCheck Advisory

15- and 18-inch radar-enabled advisory speed signs to alert drivers of an advised speed for a potential road hazard or condition.
speedcheck advisory radar speed sign

LED Stop Signs and Warning Signs

Solar-powered LED enhanced signs for crosswalks, school zones, warning, and stop signs.
carmanah led enhanced stop sign flashing

SpeedCheck-12

12-inch digit radar speed sign for school zones, neighborhood streets, and arterial and rural roadways less than 45 mph.

speedcheck-12 radar speed sign product front view

Rural road safety solutions brochure

Carmanah offers a variety of products that can be implemented to increase safety on rural roads. For an at-a-glance introduction to these solutions, including our SpeedCheck®Advisory Speed SignsIntersection Conflict Warning Systems, and LED Enhanced Chevron Signs, download our digital brochure.

Understanding rural roadway departure crashes

Roadway departure crashes are incidents in which a vehicle “crosses the edge or centerline, or otherwise leaves the travelled way.” When a vehicle enters a curve, centrifugal force works to keep it moving in a straight path rather than following the curve of the road.

While rural road departure crashes can happen anywhere, they are more likely to occur on rural roads than urban ones because they typically have:

  • Poor driving conditions (e.g. potholes, snow and ice)
  • Missing safety features (e.g. pavement markings, guard rails, etc.)
  • Higher maximum speed limits
  • Less congestion, and less “friction” in general (e.g. traffic signals, pedestrians)
  • Inadequate nighttime lighting

Rural roads also tend to have have narrower lanes, with hazards like utility poles, trees, and other fixed objects located close to the roadway. And because rural roads are remote, the time to discover a crash are generally longer, with emergency services taking longer to arrive. (sourcesource)

Chevron Sign Placement

According to the MUTCD, chevron signs should be be positioned on the outside of a turn or a curve, “in line with and at approximately a right angle to approaching traffic.”

Spacing of chevron signs should allow the road user to have at least two in view at any given point, until the change in alignment eliminated the need for the signs.

Get in touch

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