PHOENIX – According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are an average of 35,000 to 40,000 traffic fatalities in the United States every year. In Arizona, there have been 725 traffic fatalities this year through the end of September.

That’s why the Arizona Department of Transportation is joining highway agencies across the country on Saturday, Oct. 10, to recognize the 17th annual “Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day,” a national campaign to raise awareness about the steps drivers can take to reduce traffic fatalities. 

In support of Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day, ADOT’s overhead message boards across the state will display messages reminding drivers to slow down, drive sober, not tailgate and to use turn signals. 

“Reducing traffic fatalities begins with making wise decisions behind the wheel,” said Dallas Hammit, ADOT’s deputy director for transportation. “Eliminating distractions like texting, never driving when drowsy, obeying the speed limit and never drinking while driving are just some ways drivers can reduce their chances of being in a crash.” 

In Arizona, there has been an average of 744 traffic fatalities through the end of September over the past three years. 

In 2019, Arizona saw decreases in “distracted driving behavior,” alcohol-related fatalities, the number of people killed not wearing seat belts, and pedestrian fatalities.

“By working together, we can continue to make a difference in reducing traffic fatalities in our state and our nation,” Hammit said.

Put the Brakes on Fatalities Day was developed by the American Society for Civil Engineers and exists to heighten consciousness about what people can do and what safety-based steps they should take to reduce transportation fatalities and accidents on American highways, roads, and streets by calling attention to reducing fatalities on one specific day.

PHOENIX -  Arizona Department of Transportation innovations designed to improve driver safety and awareness during bad weather conditions have earned recognition from the National Weather Service, which has cited ADOT as a “Weather Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence.”

Because Arizona’s climate ranges from low desert to Alpine extremes, ADOT works with National Weather Service offices in Phoenix, Tucson, Flagstaff and Las Vegas to constantly monitor a remarkable range of weather activity. This includes heat events, major winter storms, monsoon storms that can produce deadly lightning and flash flooding, the effects of wildfires, high winds and other occurrences throughout Arizona. 

With central Arizona being a prime location for dust storms, in 2019 ADOT installed a state-of-the-art X-band radar dust detection system on portions of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson, as well as variable speed limit signs that adjust in response to poor weather such as dust storms or heavy rainfall. 

DOT also coordinates with the National Weather Service on an emergency action plan to respond quickly to flooding emergencies, especially in areas burned out by wildfires where flooding can be more severe. Streamlined communication and preventative measures as part of the federal Pathfinder Program allow maintenance crews to take quick action to close highways and keep drivers safe in the event of flooding.

Among the weather-related safety initiatives promoted by ADOT are the “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” dust storm awareness effort and the “Know Snow” campaign for winter driving safety.

“The National Weather Service and ADOT work closely to promote safety for all Arizona drivers. Weather conditions in Arizona can bring extreme heat, blinding dust storms, flash flooding, thunderstorms, snow, ice and many other conditions that challenge drivers”, said Acting Warning Coordination Meteorologist Jaret Rogers. “Our partnership is vital for making roadways as safe as possible during adverse weather conditions and ADOT has promoted innovative safety measures and awareness campaigns. This has earned ADOT the distinction of being known as a National Weather Service Weather Ready Nation Ambassador of Excellence.”

“Safety is the number one priority for the Arizona Department of Transportation and we rely very heavily on great partners like the National Weather Service,” said ADOT Transportation Systems and Management Operations Director Brent Cain. “Arizona weather can range from temperatures in the 80s in one part of the state to snow in another, sometimes on the same day. Without our relationship with the National Weather Service, it would be difficult to effectively meet the safety needs of the public. We’re grateful for this recognition.”

For more information: 

https://www.weather.gov/wrn/ambassador_recognition

Know Snow, Dust Detection: /about/transportation-safety/severe-weather

PHOENIX – Drivers heading north to Payson, the Mogollon Rim and the White Mountains for the Labor Day holiday weekend should budget extra time and consider alternate routes with 7 miles of State Route 87 still limited to one lane while crews repair guardrail and fencing damaged by the Bush Fire. 

Work to replace more than 11 miles of guardrail damage has been underway since late July. As of Friday, Aug. 28, crews have repaired 44 percent of the damaged guardrail on SR 87, reducing the northbound lane restriction by about 5 miles. The right lane closure is between mileposts 223 and 230.

Drivers planning on heading to Payson and mountain areas to the east should plan extra travel time and consider Interstate 17 to State Route 260 as an alternate route to Payson and US 60 as an alternate route to the White Mountains.

Also, the shoulder of southbound SR 188 near SR 87 is blocked off until guardrail can be replaced along the two-lane highway. Crews have replaced nearly one-quarter of the damaged guardrail along SR 188. Please drive with care in that area. 

ADOT has secured federal emergency relief funds to cover the $2 million cost of repaired guardrail and the right-of-way fence.

Real-time highway conditions are available on ADOT’s Arizona Traveler Information site at az511.gov, by calling 511 and through ADOT’s Twitter feed, @ArizonaDOT. When a freeway closure or other major traffic event occurs, our free app available at ADOTAlerts.com will send critical information directly to app users in affected areas – where possible, in advance of alternate routes.

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Transportation has installed six signs telling drivers to use their headlights during the daytime on State Route 169 to increase visibility and safety along the highway.

The signs were placed along the entire highway corridor between the junction with SR 69 in Dewey-Humboldt and the junction with Interstate 17 north of Cordes Junction. Drivers on SR 169 are required to turn their headlights on during daylight hours.

“Having headlights on really increases visibility, even during the daytime,” said Bob LaJeunesse, regional traffic engineer for ADOT’s Northwest District. “We want to reduce the number of head-on collisions along this two-lane highway. Increasing visibility through headlight usage can help keep drivers safer.”

According to crash statistics, SR 169 has seen eight head-on crashes over the last five years. Five of those were fatal.

With the signs up along the corridor, law enforcement has the ability to issue citations to drivers who do not have their headlights on.

The only other corridor in Arizona where daytime headlight signs are located is along SR 89 between Chino Valley and I-40. Those signs were put up about two years ago.

PHOENIX – A mystery person and a husband-and-wife team of a hero hiker and a kindergarten teacher are the winners of ADOT’s Safety Message Contest.

More than 5,500 votes were cast by the public for the 12 message finalists. The top two vote-getters and winners are:

“We’ve been amazed at the level of public interest each time we’ve held this contest and this year is no different,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “Thousands of Arizonans sent us their messages and thousands more voted for their favorite. The purpose of displaying unconventional safety messages is to get people engaged and talking about making safer and smarter decisions behind the wheel. In that respect, this effort is a success.”

The identity of the author of “signal and ready to mingle” is unknown. Contest entrants have the option to include contact information when they submit their message, but contact information is not required and none was included with this entry. This is the first time in four years a winning message has gone uncredited in ADOT’s Safety Message Contest.

Scott and Paula Cullymore of Mesa teamed up to create the Seussian “red fish, blue fish, speeding’s foolish” message.

“It was almost to the deadline and I asked my wife, who’s a kindergarten teacher, if she had any ideas,” Scott said. “She said, ‘This week is Dr. Seuss Week,’ and that’s how the message came to be. She gets all the credit.”

Encouraging safe and smart behavior isn’t new to Scott. An avid hiker, he’s been known to hand out bottled water to dehydrated hikers on Camelback Mountain. He’s hopeful the message results in fewer speeders.

“This message is short and fast and you can read it almost without thinking,” he said. “Hopefully, it sticks with people.”

These winning messages will be displayed on overhead message boards at a later date. Currently, message boards are displaying regular traffic information and COVID-19 safety messages.

More than 4,000 messages were submitted to the contest this year. ADOT whittled the entries down to 12 finalists and a public vote determined the winning messages. 

ADOT displays unconventional safety messages on Dynamic Message Signs as part of an effort to change driver behavior and encourage motorists to make better decisions while driving. According to national statistics, driver behavior, like choosing to speed, driving distracted, impaired or reckless, plays a role in more than 90% of vehicle crashes.

PHOENIX – The pilot Interstate 17 thermal camera system in Phoenix has proven to be a reliable way to detect wrong-way vehicles, alert law enforcement and warn other drivers to reduce the risk of crashes involving often-impaired wrong-way drivers. The Arizona Department of Transportation has already expanded use of the technology, with plans to do more as time and funding allow.

Those are among the key findings in an assessment of ADOT’s first-in-the-nation wrong-way vehicle detection and warning system along I-17. The report includes recommendations for components to be added at urban and rural locations as funding becomes available. 

Compared to waiting for 911 calls from other drivers, the immediate alerts provided by thermal camera detections result in faster response times by law enforcement, a finding borne out by ADOT’s assessment of the I-17 system.

“The I-17 pilot system has delivered positive results and helped provide a road map for expanding use of technology to reduce the risk from wrong-way drivers,” said Dallas Hammit, ADOT’s state engineer and deputy director for transportation. “We’re using the thermal camera technology elsewhere and have established plans for other areas, including rural locations. I want to stress that thermal cameras can’t stop someone from being a wrong-way driver. But they are a big part of our efforts to reduce the risks associated with often-impaired wrong-way drivers.”

Meanwhile, the thermal camera detection technology that is key to the I-17 system has now been installed at most interchanges along the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. Installations are underway along Loop 303 in the West Valley, and the technology will be added as part of Loop 101 expansion projects that are under construction east of I-17 and also south of US 60.

ADOT also has converted thermal cameras already used on traffic signals at more than a dozen interchanges in the Valley to send alerts to the Traffic Operations Center and the Arizona Department of Public Safety when wrong-way vehicles are detected. Those include four locations along the Loop 101 Agua Fria Freeway (59th, 67th and 75th and Northern avenues), I-17 at 19th Avenue and Jomax Road, I-10 at 27th and 91st avenues, and multiple intersections along State Route 347 between I-10 and Maricopa.

The $4 million I-17 pilot system was funded by Proposition 400, the dedicated sales tax for transportation improvements approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004. Since the system began operating in January 2018 between the I-10 “Stack” interchange and Loop 101, it has detected more than 100 vehicles traveling the wrong way, mostly on exit ramps and frontage roads along the Black Canyon Freeway. Drivers of most of those vehicles either turned around on exit ramps or pulled into driveways or parking lots without entering I-17 in the wrong direction.

The alert system also features specialized internally illuminated wrong-way signs with flashing LED lights along I-17 off-ramps, designed to get the attention of a wrong-way driver.

The system’s 90 thermal cameras are positioned to detect wrong-way vehicles entering off-ramps or traveling along the freeway in areas between the I-10 “Stack” interchange near downtown and the Loop 101 interchange in north Phoenix. Through a computerized decision-support system, the system also triggers the internally illuminated “Wrong Way” signs with flashing red lights aimed at getting the attention of wrong-way drivers. At the same time, the system immediately alerts AZDPS and ADOT, allowing law enforcement to respond immediately and ADOT to immediately alert other freeway drivers with “Wrong Way Driver/Ahead/Exit Freeway” warnings on overhead message boards.

In addition to installations completed and planned, ADOT is prepared to work with regional planners on adding wrong-way vehicle alert technology elsewhere as funding becomes available. The priority will be locations with the greatest incidence of wrong-way incursions.

“We’re working on determining locations in greater Arizona where thermal cameras could be added for example on overhead message signs or at strategically identified interchanges along rural highways,” Hammit said. “Locations along I-17 between Phoenix and Flagstaff are planned if and when funding is identified.”

One example of the technology’s performance was in summer 2018, when thermal cameras on I-17 detected a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction south from Loop 101. State troopers stopped the driver, who exited the freeway and re-entered going the right way in the northbound lanes. In early 2019, a thermal camera detection at I-17 and Camelback Road led to state troopers stopping a wrong-way pickup in the travel lanes. 

There have been successes beyond the I-17 pilot area as well. In August 2019, a thermal camera at I-10 and 27th Avenue alerted ADOT and the Arizona Department of Public Safety to a commercial truck entering the freeway in the wrong direction. Law enforcement stopped the driver on I-17 near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. In 2017, a thermal camera being tested at the Loop 101 Agua Freeway Freeway interchange at 75th Avenue detected a wrong-way vehicle on an off-ramp, helping state troopers stop the vehicle near Grand Avenue.

Longer-term and subject to funding availability, ADOT’s assessment of the I-17 pilot system also recommends installing the internally illuminated, flashing “Wrong Way” sign at urban locations with thermal camera detection. ADOT’s overhead message boards could be used as locations for additional thermal cameras above the roadway in urban and rural areas.