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Automated Sign System Takes Top Road Safety Award

30 September 2022

The 2022 3M-ACRS Diamond Road Safety Award has been awarded to Trisign Remote Access Multi Message signage developed by Safetek Solutions with team leader Adam Gardiner.

Currently it is estimated that around 100 traffic controllers are injured every year in Australia, and tragically at least one is killed. This new safety product could help reduce this number by decreasing manual adjustments to signage.

Hon. Michael Wood, Adam Gardiner (Safetek Solutions), Michael Holderness (3M)

The 3M-ACRS Diamond Road Safety Awards were presented at the ACRS Award Ceremony held on Thursday 29 September at the 2022 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC 2022) in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand.

The Hon Michael Wood, New Zealand Minister of Transport addressed the audience during the evening expressing his admiration for the work that was being done by the attendees to eliminate road trauma.

“We need to stop accepting road trauma. We call it a road toll, but a toll is putting $5 in a collection bin. A lost life is much more than a number and comes at a great cost. We can’t accept that people are killed and maimed on our roads,” Minister Wood said.

The awards were presented by Minister Wood along with Professor Ann Williamson, President of the Australasian College of Road Safety and Mr Michael Holderness, Technical Services Manager for 3M New Zealand.

“3M has been proud to continue the support of the 3M-ACRS Diamond Road Safety Award for the past 12 years and we wish to congratulate everyone who has participated in this year’s awards.” Mr Holderness said.

TriSign is a changeable message sign that allows for quick changes of signage for traffic management, designed specifically for temporary traffic management. It has been designed to eliminate the safety risk that traffic management crews face when placing, removing, uncovering or hiding multi message frames on long term project work sites.

TriSign runs off solar and on-board battery so doesn’t need a hard-wired power supply. The activation is via an android app and allows a user to log into the app securely and select the specific sign faces required for the work being done that shift.

Finalists for the 3M-ACRS Diamond Road Safety Award came from many areas including state and local governments, private companies, and not-for-profit organisations. Judges of the award evaluated all the entries in terms of problem solving, innovation in technology and thinking, and the benefits in reducing trauma. Cost-effectiveness and transferability to other areas were other key criteria.

As the winning entry, a member of the project team has the opportunity to travel to the USA to visit 3M Global Headquarters in Minnesota. The ACRS and members of the road safety community across Australasia congratulate the TriSign team on this innovative new safety product and their 2022 3M-ACRS Diamond Road Safety Award win.

Adam Gardiner (Safetek Solution) – Hon. Michael Wood, Adam Wilmot (GHD), Michael Holderness (3M) – Adam Wilmot (GHD)

Highly Commended Projects for 2022:

NetRisk2 – delivering safer road infrastructure – project delivered by ARRB. – Team Leader: Emily McLean, Portfolio Leader, Infrastructure Safety Management, Australian Road Research Board (ARRB).

The NetRisk2 technology has been developed to examine if a proposed treatment for road safety will have a positive effect before work begins. NetRisk2 Integrates both AusRap and ANRAM into the one web platform so that road managers no longer have to choose between the two assessment models. It allows for easy investigation of the impact of alternative treatments and compare the performance.

The Low Cost Urban Road Safety Program – project delivered by Main Roads Western Australia – Team Leader: Ian Thompson, Principal Advisor of the Urban Road Safety Program, Main Roads Western Australia.

The Low Cost Urban Road Safety Program was co-designed by Main Roads Western Australia and GHD, to deliver treatments to local roads, on an area-wide or whole-of-street basis, to reduce crash risks for drivers and vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists.  Over a four-year period, this program will help support local governments to deliver cost effective and innovative solutions within the existing road kerb lines, with the intention that the safety benefits of the initial program will promote and guide the extension of future programs.