EVALUATION OF THE FIRST FLASH INSTALLATION
FLASH (FLASH LIGHTS AND SEND HELP) IS AN ELECTRONIC SYSTEM THAT WAS INSTALLED ON A 50-MILE SECTION OF INTERSTATE 4 IN FLORIDA TO TEST THE OPERATIONAL FEASIBILITY OF COOPERATIVE MOTORISTS USING THEIR HEADLIGHTS TO SUMMON AID FOR DISTRESSED MOTORISTS. THE NUCLEUS OF THE ROADSIDE EQUIPMENT IS A DETECTOR THAT DETERMINES WHEN A MOTORIST FLASHES HIS LIGHTS. SIGNALS FROM 20 ROADSIDE DETECTORS ARE SENT TO THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL TROOP HEADQUARTERS, WHICH THEN RENDERS THE HELP NEEDED. THE EVALUATION PROGRAM PROVED FLASH TO BE AN EFFECTIVE MOTORIST-AID SYSTEM. EFFECTIVENESS MEASURES INCLUDED EMPIRICAL DATA FROM A SERIES OF CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS THAT SHOWED THAT AN OPERATIONALLY ACCEPTABLE FRACTION (BETTER THAN 12 PERCENT) OF PASSING MOTORISTS USED THE SYSTEM PROPERLY. ABOUT 0.1 PERCENT RESPONDED INCORRECTLY, WHICH IS MORE THAN AMPLE DISCRIMINATION. FURTHERMORE, DETECTOR SPACINGS OF UP TO 8 MILES WERE FOUND ACCEPTABLE. MOTORIST ACCEPTANCE AND UNDERSTANDING OF FLASH WERE DETERMINED FROM MAIL-BACK QUESTIONNAIRES DISTRIBUTED AT EXIT RAMPS AND REST AREAS. MOTORISTS WHO HAD BEEN DISABLED AND WERE SERVICED AS A RESULT OF FLASH INDICATED THROUGH SIMILAR MAIL-BACK QUESTIONNAIRES THEIR SATISFACTION WITH THE SHORT (18-MIN. AVERAGE) WAITING TIME FOR THE HIGHWAY PATROL TO ARRIVE. DURING THE EVALUATION PERIOD, DESIGN IMPROVEMENTS WERE MADE TO ACCOMMODATE VARYING AMBIENT LIGHT CONDITIONS AND TO ALLOW FOR THE FACT THAT THE TEST SECTION HAD THE HEAVIEST CONCENTRATION OF THUNDER- STORMS IN THE COUNTRY. TO BE IMPLEMENTED DURING THE SECOND HALF OF 1971 ARE AN IMPROVED COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM (FREQUENCY SHIFT KEYED) AND MORE STABLE PHOTODETECTORS. FLASH HAS PROVED TO BE THE MOST ECONOMICAL AND EFFECTIVE SYSTEM FOR THE DETECTION AND LOCATION OF STRANDED MOTORISTS. /AUTHOR/
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Supplemental Notes:
- Sponsored by Committee on Motorist Services. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Authors:
- Adler, Bernard
- Wisepart, Ivor S
- Emery, Raleigh H
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Conference:
- 51st Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
- Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
- Date: 1972-1-17 to 1972-1-21
- Publication Date: 1972
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 28-36
- Monograph Title: Emergency communications
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Serial:
- Highway Research Record
- Issue Number: 402
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Disasters and emergency operations; Flashing; Hazards and emergency operations; High beamed headlamps; Traffic incidents
- Uncontrolled Terms: Disabled vehicles
- Old TRIS Terms: High beamed headlights
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00226509
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Apr 2 1973 12:00AM