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Home > Roadway Departure Safety > Nighttime Visibility

Presentation: Conducting Sign Retroreflectivity Inspections

Slide #1

Training for Conducting Visual Sign Retroreflectivity Inspections and Measuring Retroreflectivity of Traffic Signs

Speaker's Note

Hello and welcome to Inspector Training for Sign Retroreflectivity.

This course is intended for those folks in the field performing maintenance of signs, particularly sign retroreflectivity. New MUTCD rules are in place regarding the maintenance of sign retroreflectivity. This course will walk you through the assessment techniques available for conducting sign maintenance in terms of retroreflectivity.

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Slide #2

Ground Rules

• Facilities
  • Restrooms, drinks, snacks, phones
  • Other considerations
• Cell phones and pagers on silent
• Ask questions and make comments to the group as they occur to you
• Be considerate of others

Speaker's Notes

• This is where you discuss the facilities at the location the course is being taught.

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Slide #3

Course Instructor(s)

• Names
  • Short bio

Speaker's Notes

• Introductions for the course instructors.

• Name, affiliation, education, qualifications, and other pertinent info.

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Slide #4

Participant Introductions

• Name
• Agency
• Position/duties

Speaker's Notes:

• Go around the room with self introductions. Have participants describe their job duties related to sign maintenance so you know the audience better. Take up to 10 minutes or so if needed.

• If you have more time, ask participants what they already know about the new minimum retro requirements.

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Slide #5

Purpose of Course

• Provide background information
• Describe MUTCD
• Review new MUTCD minimum retroreflectivity requirements
• Understand sign inspection methods that can be used to evaluate sign retroreflectivity in compliance with new requirements.
• Learn traffic sign inspection techniques that can assess retroreflectivity

Speaker's Notes:

• <Intended audience is maintenance personnel.>

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Slide #6

Content & Schedule

Speaker's Notes:

• There is flexibility here for breaks but keep in mind there are demonstrations too. If you want to make this shorter, you could eliminate some demonstrations or some slides.

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Slide #7

Questions

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Slide #8

Why Do We Install Signs?

Required by MUTCD? NO

Engineering Decision? YES!

Why? To help drivers safely navigate roadways (including older)

Speaker's Notes:

• The main point here is that we install signs to convey information to drivers. At some point, a decision was made that the information was needed or somehow improved safety or mobility. Therefore, the information needs to be available to the driver at all times, including nighttime. Therefore, it is important to use retroreflective signs and maintain those signs.

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Slide #9

Key Issue: Older Drivers

• 18.9 million drivers age 70+ in 2000

• 20.6 million drivers age 70+ in 2006
  • 48% increase from 1990 to 2006
  • 1990 — 8% of drivers were 70+
  • 2006 — 10.2% of drivers were 70+

• “Older” driver population will continue to grow as baby-boomers age

Speaker's Notes:

• Nighttime visibility of traffic control devices is becoming increasingly important as our population ages.  By the year 2020, about one-fifth of the U.S. population will be 65 years of age or older.  In general, older individuals have declining vision and slower reaction times.  Signs that are easier to see and read at night can help older drivers retain their freedom of mobility and remain independent.

• I think many of you have heard or seen numbers like these. This is not new news. However, it is important that we maintain our roadways for the road-users and be aware that the road-user demographics are changing. The underlying issue behind today;s training is maintaining the signs for all road-users, including this growing demographic.

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Slide #10

MUTCD

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices

• MUTCD applies to all roads .. “open to public travel”
  • includes toll roads and roads within shopping centers, parking lots, airports, sports arenas, and other similar business and recreation facilities that are privately owned but where the public is allowed to travel without access restrictions.

Speaker's Notes:

• Do you know what types of roads fall within the jurisdiction of the MUTCD? Which roads are exempt from the MUTCD?

  <Instructor to have some dialogue with class participants using the previous two questions.>
  <Official answer is animated with mouse click>

• The FHWA has recently made a clarification regarding the type of roads that fall within the jurisdiction of the MUTCD. Here is language from that clarification:

  The traffic control devices (TCD) are critical for the safe and efficient transportation of people and goods. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), by setting minimum standards and providing guidance, ensures uniformity of traffic control devices across the nation. The use of uniform TCDs (messages, location, size, shapes, and colors) helps reduce crashes and congestion, and improves the efficiency of the surface transportation system. Uniformity also helps reduce the cost of TCDs through standardization. The information contained in the MUTCD is the result of either years of practical experience, research, and or the MUTCD experimentation process. This effort ensures that TCDs are visible, recognizable, understandable, and necessary. The MUTCD is a dynamic document that changes with time to address contemporary safety and operational issues.

  NOTE: MUTCD does not apply to: Military bases and other gated properties where access is restricted and private railroad grade crossings are not included in the term “open to public travel.”

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Slide #11

MUTCD

• Section 2A.06 – Design of Signs
  • The basic requirements of a highway sign are that it be legible to those for whom it is intended and that it be understandable in time to permit a proper response. Desirable attributes include:
    • High visibility by day and night; and
    • High legibility (adequately sized letters or symbols, and a short legend for quick comprehension by a road user approaching a sign).

Speaker's Notes:

• The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is incorporated by reference in 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 655, Subpart F and shall be recognized as the national standard for all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway, or bicycle trail open to public travel in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a).

• The MUTCD already contains several items on retroreflectivity and having high performing signs.

• <Instructor: please go over the text --- highlighting the relevant items>

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Slide #12

MUTCD

• Section 2A.08 – Retroreflectivity or Illumination
  • …signs shall be retroreflective or illuminated to show the same shape and similar color by both day and night, unless specifically stated otherwise...
  • The requirements for sign illumination shall not be considered to be satisfied by street or highway lighting.

• The responsibility for the design, placement, operation, maintenance, and uniformity of traffic control devices shall rest with the public agency or the official having jurisdiction.

Speaker's Notes:

• The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is incorporated by reference in 23 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 655, Subpart F and shall be recognized as the national standard for all traffic control devices installed on any street, highway, or bicycle trail open to public travel in accordance with 23 U.S.C. 109(d) and 402(a).

• The MUTCD already contains several items on retroreflectivity and having high performing signs.

• <Instructor: please go over the text --- highlighting the relevant items>

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Slide #13

MUTCD Sign Maintenance

MUTCD Section 2A.22 Maintenance

• Maintenance activities should consider proper position, cleanliness, legibility, and daytime and nighttime visibility (see Section 2A.09). Damaged or deteriorated signs should be replaced.

• To assure adequate maintenance, a schedule for inspecting (both day and night), cleaning, and replacing signs should be established.

• Steps should be taken to see that weeds, trees, shrubbery, and construction, maintenance, and utility materials and equipment do not obscure the face of any sign.

Speaker's Notes:

• Ask participants if they are meeting the MUTCD criteria in this section?

  Get specific … do they do a nighttime inspection? What do they look for? How often? Do they look at sign retroreflectivity? How do they deem if it is adequate? Do they have an established procedure? Have them describe it? You will be able to use the info gained in this series of questions later in the presentation when discussing visual nighttime inspection methods.

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Slide #14

More than just Retroreflectivity

Reasonably safe for day or night travel?

MUTCD Principles:

• Fulfill a need;
• Command attention;
• Convey a clear, simple meaning;
• Command respect from road users; and
• Give adequate time for proper response.

Speaker's Notes:

• According to the MUTCD, the purpose of traffic control devices, as well as the principles for their use, is to promote highway safety and efficiency by providing for the orderly movement of all road users on streets and highways throughout the Nation. Traffic control devices notify road users of regulations and provide warning and guidance needed for the reasonably safe, uniform, and efficient operation of all elements of the traffic stream.

• Discuss MUTCD principles. How do they relate to the series of pictures? How do they relate to maintenance of traffic signs … and particularly, how do they relate to min retro levels?

• Add notes but then ask what else is wrong with this picture?

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Program Contact

Cathy Satterfield
Cathy.Satterfield@dot.gov

What’s New

Proposed Revision of the 2009 MUTCD – Compliance Dates NEW!

FHWA Technical Advisory T 5040.40: Center Line Rumble Strips NEW!

FHWA Memo: Technical Advisories for Rumble Strips NEW!

Roadway Departure Safety Implementation Plans

Roadway Departure Countermeasures

Roadside Design: Steel Strong Post W-beam. A guidance memo was issued on May 17, 2010 on the height of guardrail for new installations. Guidance regarding existing guardrail will be developed in the next several months, in consultation with AASHTO's Technical Committee on Roadside Safety.

Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [HTML, PDF]

MUTCD Text of the Proposed Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Standard

Summary of the MUTCD Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Standard

Revised Assessment of Economic Impacts of Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity

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Low Cost Treatments for Horizontal Curve Safety

The Safety Edge