March 9, 2023

EDC-7 Virtual Summit Recap: Nighttime Visibility for Safety

Last month, transportation practitioners from around the country gathered virtually for three days to learn more about the seven innovations that will be promoted during EDC-7 (2023-2024). If you missed sessions or breakouts, you can still view these on-demand at the summit website.

The theme of day one was Improving Safety for All Users, and one of the featured innovations was Nighttime Visibility for Safety.

Nighttime visibility for safety will focus on reducing fatalities and serious injuries in three main areas- roadway departures, intersections, and pedestrians/bicyclists. Combined, these account for nearly 90 percent of US traffic fatalities. Here are some quick facts to show the impact that nighttime visibility can have on each:

• Chevron signs can reduce roadway departures by up to 25 percent on horizontal curves.
• Nighttime crashes at rural and urban intersections can be reduced by up to 38 percent using well-designed lighting.
• 76 percent of pedestrian-related fatalities occur during periods of darkness.
• Adequate intersection lighting can reduce pedestrian fatalities by 42 percent.
• Crosswalk visibility enhancements can reduce pedestrian crashes by up to 47 percent.

The team will provide new and updated tools and products for several existing resources, including proven safety countermeasures, FHWA’s Safe Transportation for Every Pedestrian (STEP) initiative, and the Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway Departures (FoRRRwD) initiative, to improve nighttime visibility for all road users at all levels of government within a State.

A key countermeasure will be lighting, including its design and application in the three focus areas. There are already plans for greater emphasis on this countermeasure due to the need for a wide range of education on the design and use of lighting, including how much is needed for different locations and different road users.

Of particular interest to smaller agencies or more rural stakeholders will be lower-cost countermeasures related to enhanced signing and pavement marking practices.The team will demonstrate how various nighttime visibility countermeasures can be combined, including when to include lighting in certain situations for increased safety benefits.

Stay up to date on Nighttime Visibility for Safety. Subscribe to Nighttime Visibility for Safety e-News to receive updates on webinars, case studies, videos and more.

Register for the EDC-7 Summit to watch the Nighttime Visibility for Safety breakout session and find other resources available in the virtual booth. For more information about this initiative, please contact Joseph Cheung, FHWA Office of Safety, Victoria Brinkly, FHWA Resource Center, or George Merritt, FHWA Resource Center.

Discover Home-Grown Innovations from Around the Country

Are you interested in homegrown innovations being used by your peers in other parts of the country? Check out the National STIC Network Showcase, a component of the EDC-7 Virtual Summit. Registering for the event allows you to access all the content through February 2024.

The showcase prominently features several innovations focused on roadway safety. Learn about the Ohio DOT's LED Lighting Conversion, which will improve nighttime visibility, increase safety, and is projected to save nearly $27 million long-term. The effort will replace 19,000 high-pressure sodium lights with 11,000 light emitting diode (LED) lights by the end of Summer, 2023.

Celebrate the ingenuity of your peers and read about these innovations–developed and deployed in-house at transportation agencies nationwide. Additionally, we invite you to watch the one-hour presentations on-demand that feature many of these and other innovations.

Stay Up to Date on the EDC Innovations That Interest You Most

EDC teams are always on the move! If you blink, you could miss out on important webinars, case studies, tools, videos, and more. To never miss information for the EDC innovations that interest you most, visit the subscription page and select the topics you’d like to receive updates on directly from the teams that coordinate them.

Recent bulletins:

TOPS 3/7/2023
UHPC 3/7/2023
Strategic Workforce Development 3/2/2023
Local Aid Support 3/1/2023
Innovation in Project Delivery 3/1/2023
CHANGE 2/23/2023
NextGen TIM 2/22/2023

About EDC

Every Day Counts, a state-based initiative of the Federal Highway Administration's Center for Accelerating Innovation, works with state, local and private sector partners to encourage the adoption of proven technologies and innovations to shorten and enhance project delivery.

EDC News is published weekly by the FHWA Center for Accelerating Innovation.

Notice: The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers' names appear in this presentation only because they are considered essential to the objective of the presentation. They are included for informational purposes only and are not intended to reflect a preference, approval, or endorsement of any one product or entity.

Recommended Citation:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration
EDC News; February 23, 2023
Washington, DC
https://doi.org/10.21949/1521905