The installation of ”intelligent road studs”, along a notorious stretch of road in KwaZulu-Natal, has seen accidents drop so dramatically that the province’s transport department has just had them installed on another stretch of highway.
The studs, installed over 100km on the winding and misty Ulundi/Melmoth/Eshowe area, have seen fatalities drop from 27 in the seven months prior to the start of installation in October 2002, to one, said Dawn Schneeberger, a partner in installation company Highway Technologies.
Schneeberger said a motorist in their own lane would see a white light on the studs, but a bidirectional device turned the studs red once the motorist crossed over into the oncoming traffic lane.
Schneeberger explained that the studs, embedded in the centre of the road, were solar powered and contained a battery, a light sensor and a light emitting diode. Two hours of sunshine charged the battery for 10 days.
The transport department, which paid R14-million for the studs, (compared with the approximately R40-million the fatal accidents had cost), said the studs had increased driver visibility and awareness.
Like the cat’s eyes, some of the studs were stolen at the beginning of the project by nearby residents who thought they might provide lighting for their homes, Schneeberger said.
”But we had a re-education programme and no more have been stolen.”
Although the studs are cheaper than street lights, they are still costly. Plans were afoot to build a factory to manufacture the studs in South Africa, said the transport department’s Jolene Bolton.
The department is also investigating the installation of studs designed to keep animals off the road. – Sapa