The TRL (Transport Research Laboratory) in association with Astucia, has unveiled the results of a recent study that demonstrates UK rural A and B roads, in particular, could be made safer by more widespread use of the Astucia SolarLite road studs which gives an improved delineation of the road layout ahead, for those driving at night and in poor visibility conditions. The event, organised by Astucia, took place on 14th September at TRL’s head quarters, and offered a timely solution for those responsible for improving road safety following the Government’s recent announcement declaring a major overhaul of road speed limits. In addition to looking at tackling speed limits, the Department for Transport has advised that those responsible for the road network also consider engineering and landscaping standards that raise the driver’s awareness of their environment.
Latest figures show that 42 per cent of serious road casualties and almost half of all road deaths occur on rural roads and a disproportionate number of fatalities occur on roads at night. Results of the study undertaken by TRL, demonstrate that active studs offer significant safety advantages over standard passive studs.
Active studs were shown to:
- Improve drivers’ road positioning particularly on bends
- Increase the visibility and driver awareness of the road configuration ahead
- Result in better vehicle control by reducing sudden braking and manoeuvring
In addition, drivers questioned felt more in control and more comfortable with active studs than with either passive studs or with no studs at all.
One male participant aged 25 commented that: “Actively illuminated studs made driving much easier and more predictable, which in my opinion made it much easier, less tiring and therefore much safer. If these are not already in use I would definitely like to see their introduction, in particular on unpredictable roads with a lot of curves.”
The Astucia SolarLite range of road studs are solar powered. The stud is charged during daylight hours and stores enough energy in its battery for up to 240 hours of night time operation. Astucia’s active studs were tested against a top of the range retro-reflective stud which is currently used on many of the UK’s roads. Retro-reflective studs, or passive studs, reflect the light from the vehicle’s headlights and only provide guidance of the road layout ahead, within the beam’s parameters.
The improved vehicle guidance that was observed in the results of the TRL research showed that drivers lane positioning was such that they were further away from the nearside verge on left hand bends and spent less time near or over the centre line on right hand bends. Interpreting these results out in the field would mean that drivers are less likely to collide or interfere with oncoming traffic that might be present in the turn, therefore, reducing the likelihood of an accident.
Although only 25 per cent of all driving is in the hours of darkness, 55 per cent of all deaths occur during this time. Reasons for this could be due to drivers taking less care than on urban roads as a survey from the Department for Transport revealed. The survey showed that drivers thought it was safer to break the speed limit for a variety of reasons including the illusion that less traffic is around and being able to view the headlights of oncoming vehicles as warning.
Dr Nick Reed, Research Fellow at TRL carried out the study. “There are three approaches that could be taken to improve driver safety at night. Firstly, one could focus on the specific behaviour of the driver. Secondly, investigate whether there are safety benefits through the introduction of new technologies to the driven vehicle or thirdly, examine the driving environment. We felt it was important to examine the driving environment and whether changes to the road layout could have an affect. Using TRL’s full mission driving simulator, participants were used to analyse if the introduction of actively illuminated studs on rural A roads, has any effect on drivers’ behaviour that may lead to improved road safety.”
“As traffic levels on the roads grow, developing new methods to ensure drivers’ safety becomes an increasing concern for those responsible for road safety and networks. Given current driving speeds, it is crucial drivers are provided with as much information regarding the road layout ahead as possible,” comments Martin Wardhaugh, Chief Executive of Astucia Parent Company Clearview Traffic.
“This is where active studs come into their element. Their ability to increase visibility from 100 metres as with passive studs, to around 900 metres also extends the driver’s preview and reaction time by up to ten times, alerting them to potential hazards earlier such as an upcoming bend, which leads to an improved level of driver control. Astucia is shaping the future of traffic safety by providing this information to drivers directly into their natural field of vision. The advanced guidance of the road ahead provided to drivers by the Astucia studs, is proven to reduce incidents.”
The results of the research carried out by TRL in association with Astucia, has demonstrated that active road studs appear to offer safety benefits over and beyond those offered by the passive studs with only a negligible increase in speed. Participants were positive in their subjective feelings on their experience with active studs and on the potential benefits their introduction will have. This is an important factor in the consideration of their wider usage as their installation is likely to be viewed similarly by road users.
