1
00:00:00,177 --> 00:00:02,844
(intense music)

2
00:00:10,530 --> 00:00:12,540
- [Narrator] Safety
experts are trying to find

3
00:00:12,540 --> 00:00:15,830
innovative solutions to
the number of Texas crashes

4
00:00:15,830 --> 00:00:17,900
located at flagger stations,

5
00:00:17,900 --> 00:00:21,560
which are set up during road
construction or maintenance.

6
00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,340
They know lives can be
saved at these locations,

7
00:00:24,340 --> 00:00:28,310
especially if they get
motorists to slow down sooner.

8
00:00:28,310 --> 00:00:30,270
- One of the things that TxDOT identified

9
00:00:30,270 --> 00:00:33,790
was that in work zones
at flagger stations,

10
00:00:33,790 --> 00:00:37,164
that there's the end of the
queue where traffic backs up,

11
00:00:37,164 --> 00:00:39,540
that we were noticing a bunch of crashes

12
00:00:39,540 --> 00:00:41,070
happening in that area,

13
00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:43,770
and we wanted to look
at ways to reduce that.

14
00:00:43,770 --> 00:00:46,030
- When drivers approach
these types of work zones,

15
00:00:46,030 --> 00:00:48,900
they've already passed
through several warning signs

16
00:00:48,900 --> 00:00:51,560
that alert them to the
work zone coming up ahead.

17
00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,860
So we tried to look at ways to
enhance that series of signs,

18
00:00:55,860 --> 00:00:58,440
which included adding a
flashing warning beacon

19
00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:00,700
to the be prepared to stop sign,

20
00:01:00,700 --> 00:01:02,710
and we also tried to add LED lights

21
00:01:02,710 --> 00:01:04,520
to the border of the sign as well.

22
00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,360
We also replaced the be
prepared to stop sign

23
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:09,630
with a larger electronic message

24
00:01:09,630 --> 00:01:13,040
and also used alternative
language to state

25
00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:14,600
stopped traffic ahead.

26
00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,293
- They found very
negligible changes in speed

27
00:01:18,293 --> 00:01:22,440
for the adding LED strips
to the warning sign,

28
00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:25,980
adding the warning beacon
lights to the sign,

29
00:01:25,980 --> 00:01:27,760
adding the portable
changeable message signs.

30
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:29,300
There was just very little change.

31
00:01:29,300 --> 00:01:31,490
- So we came back in
with another strategy,

32
00:01:31,490 --> 00:01:33,839
which would include using
the portable traffic signals

33
00:01:33,839 --> 00:01:36,230
that TxDOT already has approved for use

34
00:01:36,230 --> 00:01:38,483
in these same type of situations.

35
00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:42,280
So we found that when the portable signal

36
00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:44,790
was used versus having a human flagger,

37
00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:47,910
the speed profile showed that
people slowed down sooner

38
00:01:47,910 --> 00:01:49,850
as they approached the stopping point

39
00:01:49,850 --> 00:01:51,180
for the work operation.

40
00:01:51,180 --> 00:01:52,610
- [Rafael] One of the things
that we think happened

41
00:01:52,610 --> 00:01:54,765
was that possibly since it sits higher,

42
00:01:54,765 --> 00:01:57,560
people can see it from further away,

43
00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,710
that they know what's coming up.

44
00:01:59,710 --> 00:02:02,090
- Even though it's a
limited amount of data,

45
00:02:02,090 --> 00:02:07,090
those decelerations that we
saw may help to reduce problems

46
00:02:07,526 --> 00:02:09,140
with queued traffic.

47
00:02:09,140 --> 00:02:12,370
- So our plan is to
let the districts know,

48
00:02:12,370 --> 00:02:14,760
let the design division,
construction division,

49
00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:16,210
maintenance division, let them know

50
00:02:16,210 --> 00:02:18,220
the results of this study,

51
00:02:18,220 --> 00:02:20,590
that we found that at flagger stations,

52
00:02:20,590 --> 00:02:23,390
if they're having trouble
with rear-end collisions

53
00:02:23,390 --> 00:02:26,220
at the back of the
queue, to look at putting

54
00:02:26,220 --> 00:02:28,110
portable traffic signals.

55
00:02:28,110 --> 00:02:29,190
- [Narrator] For more information,

56
00:02:29,190 --> 00:02:31,740
and to find the publications
for this project,

57
00:02:31,740 --> 00:02:34,620
please visit the TxDOT Research Library

58
00:02:34,620 --> 00:02:36,133
at the link shown below.