Road Safety
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Road Safety
Reducing road fatalities and injuries is a priority for all involved in designing and managing our road network. With the volume of traffic due to increase significantly over the next few years the challenge will to be to keep the increasing numbers of road users as well as road workers safe, manage traffic flows and congestion and balance this against the impact on air quality.
3M has been focused on developing technologies to improve road safety and manage traffic for over 70 years and has been manufacturing reflective sheeting for traffic signs since the 1940s and over the past six decades has introduced a number of innovative reflective sheeting solutions to improve visibility of traffic signs, vehicles and road markings.
Solutions
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Traffic signs are critical for drivers to provide them with the necessary information needed to complete their journey safely. There are three requirements traffic signs need to meet, whether they are permanent or temporary signs. They need to be conspicuous to attract a driver's attention; legible in a range of conditions, angles and distances; comprehensible and credible to assure compliance.
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There is a direct relationship between the quality of line markings and the number of fatalities and injuries on our road network. Visible and conspicuous line markings are vital to guide drivers in wet and dry conditions, twenty-four hours a day. 3M offer road marking tapes and road studs that provide superior retro reflectivity to improve driver awareness and road safety.
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Road construction zones are extremely high risk areas for both drivers and road workers alike. Roadworks are set out in unfamiliar ways to the driver and are often on high speed areas. The presence of workers and construction equipment can result in additional confusion and lead to increased driver errors.
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Commercial and first response vehicles often travel at high speed, carry heavy loads, may make sudden manoeuvres or temporarily block the road, need to be highly visible to all other road users. To protect both the drivers of such vehicles and prevent road accidents, vehicles should be marked with reflective materials to ensure they can be seen at all times.
