Retroreflectivity is a measure of a sign's ability to be read by sensitive driving populations during nighttime and other non-optimal conditions.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) enacted changes to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) that require new retroreflectivity maintenance standards for signs. By January 2012, local jurisdictions must establish and implement a sign assessment or management method and all regulatory, warning, and ground mounted signs must be in compliance by January 2015.
Local and state governments must begin preparing for compliance within their jurisdictions.
Developing a plan for compliance begins with an understanding that retroreflectivity (where light is reflected directly back to the source) is not the same thing as reflectivity (where light bounces off at an angle, as in a mirror) and this webinar will by demystifying this cumbersome word. Nighttime visibility challenges will also be examined.
Will both legitimate and illegitimate civil cases be brought against local governments when someone has an accident and could this expose those agencies to considerable judgments? Based on past experience, this seems very likely.
Hence, a local government should establish policies, procedures, and documentation of effective implementation that will provide an affirmative defense, should it be needed.
This program will help you understand the requirements, legal implications and importance of having a plan. After viewing this program, participants will be better able to:
- Explain the difference between retroreflectivity and reflectivity
- Discuss the origins and reasons for the new retroreflectivity standards in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
- Facilitate planning processes within their agencies that will result in effective policies and procedures for compliance with the new MUTCD retroreflectivity standards
Contributor/Source
Matheu J. Carter, P.E.;Dr. Ron Eck, P.E.
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