The average cost of a road accident in UK is over £40,000; fatal accidents cost over £800,000. In 1992, total cost of road accidents was £10 billion. TMS Consultancy performed studies into effectiveness of 3M reflecting materials: (1) Diamond Grade sheeting material. Most sites were in high speed rural areas, 1 on motorway, 5 on dual and 6 on single carriageways. A variety of signs were included. For all 12 sites taken together, there was a statistically significant reduction in accidents; (2) Fluorescent Diamond Grade sheeting material. This was used as a backing board to a variety of signs. Of 11 sites, 5 were in rural, 3 in urban and 3 on village approach sites. At all five junction sites there was an overall 61% reduction in conflicts. Taking all 11 sites together, reduction in 85 percentile speed is statistically significant at 1% level; and (3) Light Guidance Tube. 150 mm polycarbonate tube; light source of 50W at one end provides illuminated strip up to 30 m long. It is attached to safety barriers. Trial site was on a 2-lane dual carriageway subject to 50 mph limit, carrying 130,000 vehicles per week. Purpose was to determine whether LGT affected speeds. No speed reductions were noted. LGT should be installed for trial where accidents in the dark occur.
Samenvatting