Page 39 - FCW, November, December 2018
P. 39

 BEST IN CLASS - STATE & LOCAL
PROJECT: Wrong-Way Driver Detection System
Arizona Department of Transportation
An IoT safety net for misguided drivers
When a car enters an interstate headed in the wrong direction, the mistake can be devastating. Earlier this year, three people were killed when a car made its way onto Interstate 10 traveling the wrong way near Phoenix.
The Arizona Department of Transportation has invested in a system it hopes will cut down on those kinds of accidents, which are usually the result of impaired driving. The wrong-way driver detection system consists of cameras that flag cars headed the wrong way and a network of warnings and notifications meant to alert that driver and keep others safe.
The setup consists of 90 thermal cameras, and the Arizona DOT has been piloting it since January on a 15-mile stretch of interstate highway. Brent Cain, a division director at Arizona DOT, said there are plans to expand to more roadways in the future.
The cameras can determine if a vehicle is
entering an interstate ramp headed in the
wrong direction. Once that determination
is made, a notification is sent to the state’s
Highway Patrol Division and DOT’s Traffic
Operations Center. Back on the highway, large LED-lit
signs reading “Wrong Way” begin flashing to let the driver know he or she should turn around. If the driver continues onto the freeway, the center will trigger a warning for the programmable overhead signs to warn drivers headed in the correct direction that there is a wrong-way driver and they
should exit the highway.
The agency expects to use insights from the system to
better understand engineering changes that could reduce wrong-way incidents. “Having this data, I think, will give us a wealth of information, and we’re really going to better understand” the problem, Cain said.
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