Smart road studs boost safety
Tech aids lane discipline Part of ‘intelligent network’ plan OFFICIAL
BRITAIN’S motorway surfaces are set for a major tech upgrade, starting with the introduction of intelligent LED road studs at one of the country’s key junctions.
Under a £3million safety initiative by Highways England, 170 ‘smart’ LED road studs will be installed and synchronised with the traffic lights at the Switch Island junction near Liverpool, where the M57 and M58 motorways meet a trio of A-roads.
The road studs will illuminate following traffic light changes and guide drivers along the correct lanes.
Designed by Oxfordshire-based Clearview Intelligence, the intelligent road studs are expected to improve safety at the junction, which is used by 90,000 motorists every day and is the site of one crash every fortnight on average. The initiative follows successful trials at the Hindhead Tunnel in Surrey where the tech was proven to help stop drivers from drifting between lanes – reducing the risk of collision.
The smart road studs form part of Highways England’s “intelligent network of the future” plans, under which cars will eventually be able to communicate with the road network.
One idea developed by Israeli start-up Valerann would use road studs to talk back to cars. Valerann’s new road studs can communicate everything from weather, road and even traffic conditions wirelessly with road users, helping to pave the way for autonomous vehicles. Valerann says its road-stud technology can be installed “seamlessly on any road network” by slotting into existing stud sockets. The tech has undergone successful trials in the US, with Valerann now targeting UK tests.
The road-stud technology is capable of monitoring up to 10 variables at any given time, including whether the cars on the road are autonomous or not. It would also be able to send information between autonomous and normal cars as a means to improve road safety. Any accidents would be detected by the technology, too, with emergency services automatically alerted.
Valerann’s co-founder, Michael Vardi, told Auto Express its road studs can be offered at the “very low price” of around £10,000 per mile, significantly undercutting the costs of other autonomous infrastructure projects.
“The road studs will illuminate after traffic lights change and guide drivers along lanes”