Safety Measures

Maryland and Minnesota are seeking some of Pennsylvania's success with test programs aimed at alerting drivers to keep a safe distance from the car in front of them. Pennsylvania uses white dots and signs to guide drivers on rural roads to stay at least three seconds (two dots) apart. The program, which cut the accident rate by 65 percent over a five-month period, was most successful when linked with police enforcement of tailgating. Minnesota will try a similar approach on its highways but will not beef up police enforcement. Meanwhile, Maryland will use bright pink panels on the sides of its Chesapeake Bay Bridge to help drivers measure a safe distance apart. It, too, does not plan to add more policing.

CROSSING GUARD

To decrease head-on collisions caused by trucks crossing a highway median, Indiana has installed a new type of steel cable barrier in three pilot sites on its toll road. The barriers are stronger than the more commonly used aluminum rails, cost about half as much--only $100,000 per mile--and are easier to install and replace. They can withstand the force of box and pickup trucks but have not yet been federally approved to stop a semi. State Department of Transportation officials believe the barriers will at least be able to slow a semi enough to reduce the impact. The project will be evaluated over the next three years.

VIRTUAL TOLLING

Tollbooths will soon be a thing of the past for commuters on a North Texas toll road, but not because the state is letting them drive for free. Rather, the Texas Department of Transportation is installing all-electronic tolls. Drivers can purchase a TollTag, and the toll will automatically be withdrawn from their account, or they can drive right through, tag-free. In that case, a picture of their license plate will be taken and the driver sent a monthly bill--with tolls 33 percent higher than the TollTag rate. A few other areas have similar programs to mitigate toll-road congestion.