Device helps keep flaggers safer from collisions

The men and women directing traffic on rural highways in work zones are on a constant lookout for inattentive and reckless drivers. 

To give themselves a safer work environment, an ADOT crew in Page found a clever solution: the Automated Flagging Assistance Device (AFAD).

"It's like a traffic light, but it's not as complex," said Gavin Bunting, a Highway Operation Technician in Page.

The machine, which is controlled remotely by a nearby trained operator, takes the place of a human flagger on roadways.

“They can raise the arms to let traffic go one direction, while holding the other direction of traffic," he said. "The person's not physically standing out in the road. They can stand on the shoulder and run this device. This keeps them out of harm’s way."

“We’ve had numerous near misses,” he added. “One of my guys was actually hit a few years back. It was a motorhome with really wide mirrors that hit the employee. It is a dangerous job for employees to be standing out in the road.”

Bunting said it’s easy for drivers to get distracted on long stretches of rural highway. 

“They’ll go miles of seeing nothing and just looking at the scenery and all of a sudden they come up on a closure,” he said.

Bunting said he discovered AFAD's while visiting family out of state.  

"We did a family trip up to Oregon and they were using similar devices,” he said. “I found a YouTube video and I sent it to my supervisor."

That was about two years ago and Bunting said he has no regrets.

"Anytime we can reduce potential injury or worse to a crew member is money well spent."