Roadway debris—tire tread, trash, and more—is commonplace on our roadways. It’s also dangerous for drivers, who may swerve or brake suddenly or hit things and propel them into another vehicle. Debris is even more dangerous for responders who must dodge traffic to remove objects.
The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) is one agency that enacted measures to increase safety for its responders. Its crews were typically leaving the relative safety of their vehicles to manually remove debris to the median or shoulder.
To address the associated dangers, the agency acquired and installed debris-removal systems on its roadway safety service (RSS) trucks. Vehicle-mounted debris-removal systems allow the operator to lower a plow-type blade to the roadway surface from inside the cab and push debris out of the travel lanes. The system is integrated with the vehicle’s front push bumper, allowing the agency to push vehicles as well larger debris and spilled loads at traffic crash scenes.
Quickly identifying the locations of debris is another tactic that helps increase roadway safety. NTTA uses both a toll-free number (#999) that can be easily dialed from a mobile phone as well as an app to help road users report road debris and solicit assistance from their RSS team. The RSS crews have cleared more than 12,000 instances of road debris to date.
(Adapted from EDC News, Nov. 16, 2023.)
Learn more:
- Innovation of the Month: Next-Generation Traffic Incident Management (EDC News,
Nov. 16, 2023) - Every Day Counts