Instead of putting warning messages on overhead variable message signs (VMS) – “Very expensive,” comments Alliance CEO, Mohammad Al Abbadi – Alliance has in the past few days finished installing 7,000 roadside lights in Abu Dhabi.
This is the first phase of a project to warn drivers of problems ahead. The lights, which are solar powered, can change colour, depending on the nature of the problem. Red signals congestion, for example, while blue signifies an accident, yellow is weather-related and white is roadworks/detour.
These lights can be installed every 50 metres: “They give early warning to drivers without them having to read anything,” explained Al Abbadi. “The purpose of these is to fill gaps between VMS. You see our lights, you become more cautious and you then give more attention to the [VMS] messages."
In another project, Alliance has installed in-road lights in the fast lanes of Abu Dhabi motorways. These lights flash red or blue in the event of an accident up ahead and alert drivers to move out of the lane, which becomes a temporary ‘hard shoulder’ for emergency vehicles to reach the scene of the incident.
And for those drivers who try to take advantage of a suddenly empty lane to get ahead of other motorists…they are promptly snapped by enforcement cameras. The penalty? 3,000 dirhams ($815) – 10 times the cost of a speeding ticket.
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