Carmanah solar technology is helping a county in the southwest United States improve the safety of its rural roadways. Carmanah’s R247C solar stop sign beacons have been installed throughout one of the largest counties in the United States to enhance the visibility of stop signs along rural roads and at collector roads intersecting rural highways.
Rural roads have been statistically shown to present significant safety concerns. A report by the National Transportation Research Institute found that more than half of traffic fatalities in the United States between 1999 and 2003 occurred on rural, non-Interstate roads and highways. This statistic is in startling contrast to the fact that only 28% of vehicle travel recorded for this time period used these sections of road. The report also found that rural roads are more likely to have poor roadway design than urban roads, and recommended safety improvements such as enhanced sign markings to counteract the hazards of poor design.
Another county in the region reported an immediate and significant change in driver behavior upon installing stop sign beacons. The county reported that the number of drivers driving through monitored stop signs fell from 204 to seven, and the number of drivers rolling through fell from 2,312 to 255. This notable decline clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of solar stop sign marking.
Carmanah’s solar stop sign beacons are particularly suited for marking signs at rural road locations as they require no connection to the electrical grid, allowing them to be placed in areas where grid access is difficult or impossible. In addition, Carmanah’s beacons are compact and self-contained, allowing them to be placed onto existing sign posts and requiring minimal technical expertise for installation.
In addition to flexibility and easy installation, Carmanah’s stop sign beacons also provide reliable performance in demanding conditions such as the intense heat and extreme temperature fluctuations found in the southwest. Incorporating the company’s MICROSOURCE® energy management system, Carmanah’s R247C solar stop sign beacons automatically adjust to the surrounding conditions, providing consistent performance even in challenging environments.
