According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, around 385,000 car accidents occur each year, resulting in 1,200 to 1,400 fatalities annually. The Lantern recognizes that alcohol, speeding and negligence are common causes for many accidents, but weather conditions and time of driving also impact driver safety.
According to a project by the Federal Highway Administration and the Center for Applied Research, “motorists driving at night are two to three times more likely to be involved in an accident at night than during the daytime.” The report continues, “About half of the motor-vehicle deaths occur at night.”
The dramatic effect nighttime plays in contributing to accidents makes a dangerous combination when drivers are out on rainy nights. Take I-270 or State Route 315, for instance. The centers of these freeways are lined with giant lights, which brightly reflect off the wet pavement and hide road lines in the mirror-like effect. Mist spraying from under tires creates a cloud-like obstruction that further diminishes a driver’s ability to see. Reflectors on the road, which are few and far between, fail to produce the desired effect.
Many Central Ohio drivers face this situation, particularly during this warmer-than-usual weather when rain is more plentiful than snow and winter’s early sunset is encroaching on rush-hour traffic. Central Ohio’s drivers, and for our interest, commuting students and faculty, particularly those engaged in night classes, need a solution.
The federal government has conducted studies assessing the viability of adding an ultra-violent component to headlamps, which would be emitted as an ultraviolet light invisible to human eyes and would reflect off fluorescent beads in road signs and painted lines in the form of visible light. The same FHA and CAR project quoted above concluded “Overall, the UV-activated fluorescent pavement markings were far superior to the pavement markings under low beams only.”
Even if this is not the kind of solution for which the State of Ohio is currently looking, or has looked in the past, it should collaborate with Ohio State and the federal government in working to eliminate this problem for safer highways.
