Road mishaps can end lives or injure people gravely. Thus, every country’s prime focus is to ensure that the traffic is managed on a daily basis and people drive according to the traffic rules. But, often times drivers are not aware of the eminent danger lurking ahead and there are no traffic police to inform them about it. What happens in this scenario?
Thanks to modern day technology, there is something called variable message sign which is helping achieve this purpose of giving a heads up to the drivers who are usually speeding their way on the highway or any road that doesn’t have traffic.
What are VMS exactly?
Variable message signs (also called as VMS, CMS and DMS) are the signboards on roads. These are electronic and hence the message that has to be conveyed to the drivers can be updated as soon as possible. They are present on highways and have recently been installed on the common road as well. The basic reason behind installing a dynamic message signs is to ensure that the drivers are safe. If there is a construction going on which needs the drivers to take a detour, then it is updated on the VMS signs. Not only construction, in case of any special event, the VMS have been proved to be really helpful.
They warn the drivers of accidents, traffic congestions and other dangers that might lie ahead on the road and ask the drivers to take the required precaution. Speed limits and roadwork zones are other things which are displayed on these dynamic message signs. All this helps the driver and people who pay attention to the variable message signs are able to avoid accidents and have a pleasant ride.
Evolution and accurateness of VMS signs
As you now know the definition of VMS signs, you must have already seen them on highways and roads. They have become extremely common and can be seen all over the country. But, as advanced and technical they look now, it all started with just a signboard which displayed all the information in dot matrix printer style.
The types of VMS signs which are installed today have everything displayed in graphics and they are much clearer. However, there has been instances where the drivers and the people who were passing by a certain section of the highway did not receive the accurate information. This is one thing that irks passengers. If the VMS won’t be accurate, then there would be confusions and this could lead to even greater problems.
Everything that is updated on the signboards comes from the traffic control room, state police or even the road crews. These are the people who are tasked with the duty of keeping the signboards completely updated. But, in some cases the sign boards are not updated and people hear about any incident on their traffic radio first and the variable message signboard later.
This is one place the government and the authority which manages the traffic on the road has to take care of. There are many states like New Jersey which have already invested plenty of millions of dollars in upgrading their VMS signs and this is a smart step towards road safety. The drivers would be informed about delays and possible traffic conditions. Not only this, the VMS will also be programmed to give the drivers an alternative way. Everything that happens on the road has to updated in real time so that the drivers can make use of that information. And another benefit of having these dynamic message signs on the road is to warn of a specific weather condition that could become a barrier in the way of the passenger.
