{"id":40585,"date":"2020-06-16T06:38:14","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T20:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=40585"},"modified":"2020-06-16T06:38:14","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T20:08:14","slug":"solar-road-signs-mb1564","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-road-signs-mb1564\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Powered Smiley Face Speed Signs Improve Driver Behaviour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Solar<\/p>\n

A trial in the ACT of smiley face road signs powered by the sun appears to have been a success, and will be continued.<\/p>\n

The signs detect approaching motorists\u2019 speeds and respond with a smiley if they are driving under the speed limit, and a \u2019slow down\u2019 message if they are detected speeding. Not shown in the above image is a solar panel atop the signs that powers the display.<\/p>\n

Here in South Australia I’ve seen these sorts of signs used on Port Wakefield Road during roadworks. I thought it was an interesting idea, although quite distracting. But it seems they work.<\/p>\n

In the ACT trial, five signs were rotated around different residential locations between February 2018 until October 2019. Locations included school and non-school zones, and on streets with varying speed limits and road classifications.<\/p>\n

I’m pretty sure the sign I saw on Port Wakefield Road displayed the speed of the approaching vehicle as part of its messaging sequence – in the ACT trial, the signs were programmed to not display the speeds of motorists driving above the speed limit, “so they are not encouraged to try to achieve a high speed reading”. Given the nature of some of the idiots on our roads, that was good thinking.<\/p>\n

The signs certainly got a workout – during the period they assessed close to 4 million vehicles.<\/p>\n

The results of the evaluation indicated:<\/p>\n