Radar Speed Signs Increasing Work Zone Safety

I RECENTLY HAD a chance to speak with Tad Blanton, a field operations supervisor for Medford, Oregon’s Public Works. He manages four crews that work year round on every type of public works project you can imagine – from underground maintenance to structural repairs, paving and concrete work. Many of the projects take place outdoors alongside moving traffic.

He told me that about three years ago, he got a call from someone in the city’s electrical repairs department. The guy had just seen a demonstration of a speedcheck radar speed sign from Information Display Company and thought Tad should check it out himself…and he did.

After the demo, Tad spoke with the folks at IDC and arranged to have one of their speedcheck displays loaned out for a few weeks. Tad said that providence brought the radar speed sign to his department when it did. They were just about to begin work on a storm drain repair project that would have them in the middle of heavy traffic – traffic that could not be shut down or detoured.

Tad told me that his crew came back entirely surprised and enthusiastic about the radar speed display. They told him that the difference the display made in slowing cars and increasing safety was (and I quote) “absolutely unbelievable.”

Of course, the city has since purchased several speedcheck radar speed signs from Information Display Company. When I spoke to Tad, he told me that even the original speed display – the one they first received as a loaner -  is still working as well as it did the first day they used it - and that was three years ago.

Fact is, the Federal Highway Administration reports that nearly 1,000 people are killed and more than 40,000 injured each year as a result of motor vehicle crashes in work zones. The majority of these cases involve excessive speeds.

Add to this the fact that an estimated 20 percent of our national highway system is currently under construction, and you have a lot of potentially hazardous work zones (about 3,000 on U.S. highways alone) Add to that thousands more including work being done on public streets, around construction sites and on public works projects, and were looking at thousands of work zones across the U.S. and thousands of workers and drivers at increased risk.

While we all look forward to getting America back to work and having some upgrades made to our nation’s infrastructure, let’s not forget about the safety element. Tad and the city of Medford would agree that radar speed signs could have a huge impact on keeping both workers and drivers safer in work zones.