Orlando car accident attorney Martinez Manglardi, PA commends Florida State University (FSU) for exploring ways to prevent wrong way driving accidents. According to the Federal Highway Administration, (FHA) these car accidents kill 300 to 400 people a year in America.
To help solve the problem, Associate Professor Walter Boot from FSU’s psychology department is providing authorities with much-needed research. Professor Boot, an expert on cognition and perception, has produced two reports on wrong way car accidents for the Florida Department of Transportation. His research suggests that applying technology to signs and road markers can save lives.
FSU cognition and perception researcher investigates ‘Smart’ highway signs and detection-triggered countermeasures to prevent wrong-way driving crashes?? https://t.co/EvXbkNzKnL pic.twitter.com/DDRj2DnBw7
— Florida State University (@floridastate) October 30, 2018
Rare But Deadly Type of Car Accident
As the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) points out, wrong way car accidents begin with a disoriented driver. The challenge is to create a system that senses when a driver is going in the wrong direction and then alerts the driver as soon as possible. (According to the NTSB, elderly drivers and driving while intoxicated are common factors in wrong way car accidents.) Early efforts to combat the problem included basic changes to signage. For example, Texas A&M researchers found that impaired drivers tend to employ a lower field of vision and may miss a sign that’s above the horizon. So some states made wrong way signs harder to miss; bigger and closer to the road.
Florida researchers focused on “detection-triggered counter measures.” In other words, how to stop an accident waiting to happen after a driver has started down the wrong side of the road. They tested several systems that would try to automatically detect and then get the attention of a wrong way driver. Promising methods include radar detection that triggers flashing visual alerts.
“The flashing onset of something new is the most effective thing you can do to draw someone’s eyes and attention, and all of the most effective countermeasures used that technique,” Boot said. “Virtually everything we tested with a red flashing light worked well.”
An Orlando Car Accident Attorney Can Help Recover Losses
These kinds of accidents are rare but especially devastating. “While this is a small percentage overall because WWD [Wrong way driver] crashes involve head-on or opposite direction sideswipe crashes at high speeds, they tend to be relatively more severe than other types of crashes,” according to the FHA.
If tragedy strikes your family, you’ll want the best car accident attorney you can get. Consider the Orlando car accident attorneys at Martinez Manglardi, PA. We’ve been helping to get fair settlements for Central Florida car accident injury victims for more than 30 years. Call 407-846-2240 for a free case review at one of our convenient locations.
