The smooth flow of traffic is a crucial part of highway safety for drivers, passengers, and construction crews. From small two-lane highways to larger highways near busy cities, ensuring traffic flows smoothly, so drivers can stay safe is a constant effort. Message signs are one of the best ways to improve highway traffic, helping to keep everybody safe on the road. Message signs also help prevent congestion that can lead to long commutes on the highway, which is good for everybody. Read on to find out more about how these signs can help improve the flow of highway traffic.
Accident Warnings
Perhaps the most important thing post-mounted message signs do on the highway is warn drivers of upcoming accidents. Accidents change the flow of traffic, but it can be hard to tell if that’s what’s going on when you’re miles away from the site of the accident. Signs can warn drivers about upcoming accidents on the highway so they can adjust their speed and be on the lookout for any changes in traffic in the next couple of miles. When drivers know about the obstacles on the road ahead, they can make a plan to take a safe detour or slow down to match the flow of traffic. Not only does this keep drivers safe and headed to their destinations, but it also helps keep emergency responders and other work crews safe from traffic.
Road Closures
People rely on highways to get to work, drive to the nearest town to shop and more. Because of this, drivers get accustomed to taking a certain route to get to a particular place, so they’re often thrown for a loop when there’s a closure in the road. Message signs can warn drivers of upcoming road closures early on, allowing them to plan a different route or figure out if they need to turn around.
While some road closures aren’t caused by anything too serious, others are a result of serious damage to the road or massive accidents. Warning drivers about these road closures can help save lives and keep drivers moving on the road, which is another reason trailer-mounted message signs are so important to highway traffic. For long-term road closures, post-mounted message signs are also a great solution.
Debris on Roadway
You can’t expect drivers to drive in any conditions, so a big part of highway message signs is letting drivers know what’s happening on the road ahead. These signs can be used to let drivers know about upcoming road work or to warn of a crash. Sometimes, trailer-mounted message signs are used as a simple way of letting drivers know that there’s debris on the road that they should watch out for. From garbage to blown tires to chunks of metal and other dangerous debris, any foreign material on the road is a danger to drivers.
While it’s important to warn of debris on the roadway, those signs can’t simply stay up even when there’s no debris. This is why trailer-mounted message signs are such an important part of warning drivers. These signs are easy to move from place to place and simple to set up, which means they can be moved as needed.
Highway-Railroad Crossings
Railroad crossings are dangerous enough when traffic is moving slowly, but it’s even more dangerous when those railroads cross the highway. It’s vital to warn oncoming traffic about upcoming railroad crossings well before those crossings because it takes more time for traffic to safely slow down on the highway. The last thing you want is a pileup of vehicles trying to slow down to avoid the train.
Post-mounted message signs are a great way to provide a permanent warning of the upcoming railroad crossing. These signs can even be changed remotely, so an operator can change the message on the sign or turn it on when a train is going to be crossing the highway. Warning of railroad crossings is an important part of safe highway traffic flow.
Maintenance and Construction
The more people drive on highways, the more they tend to wear down and fail under the pressure. Every once in a while, highway construction or maintenance crews may need to make repairs to the highway. When these crews are making repairs, they count on trailer-mounted message signs to create a temporary work zone. Drivers are warned of upcoming construction or maintenance from a distance, which gives them plenty of time to slow down so they can safely come to a stop. When the job is finished, trailer-mounted message signs can be hauled off to another location to help direct the flow of highway traffic.
Road Condition Warnings
Sometimes road conditions are dangerous, whether that’s a result of falling debris, damage to the pavement or weather. When highway conditions are dangerous, it’s important to warn drivers, especially in particularly risky areas. Trailer-mounted message signs are an excellent way to provide this warning because they can be moved as needed. When dangerous road conditions are fixed in one spot, a trailer-mounted message sign can be moved to another spot where it’s needed.
