A simple solution to stop motorists driving the wrong way onto motorways has seen the Auckland Motorway Alliance pick up a premier road safety award.
The 3M Traffic Safety Innovation Award for 2018, which recognises exemplary innovation and effectiveness to save lives and injuries on roads, was presented last week at the Engineering NZ Transportation Group’s annual conference.
Transportation Group national chairman, Alan Gregory says the AMA demonstrated an innovative approach to reducing the risk of wrong-way driving on the motorway network.
“The AMA is being congratulated through this award for developing such an innovative and effective project, which could be applied to signalised intersections in other parts of the country or around the world.”
The traffic signals modification replaces the solid round green light with a green arrow where a turn is banned.
This allows the removal of signs banning turns, reducing clutter.
The change is in response to seeing motorists drive down off ramps before realising their mistake and retreating. More than 100 wrong-way drivers make it on to the motorway by mistake each year.
NZ Transport Agency system manager Steve Mutton says it’s great to see the AMA being recognised for its commitment to making the roads safer.
“They are stretching the boundaries and exploring all avenues in their approach to keeping people safe on our system.”
Test sites recorded a reduction in wrong-way driving of between 80-100% and the AMA is rolling out the improvement across the Auckland motorway network.
The other finalists were:
Auckland Motorway Alliance – X-NET – the use of military hardware in the fight to keep road workers safe
Auckland Motorway Alliance – Outriggers
Level crossing safety programme – Kiwi Rail
Safety MAN Road Safety Truck – NZ Trucking Association
