Safety on Asia’s Highways: Brimming with Innovation reports IRF Washington office

While efforts to improve road safety on the Asian continent are finally starting to pay off, the challenge to reduce fatalities remains immense. According to the Asian Development Bank, 60% of the annual 1.2 million fatal traffic injuries take place on Asia’s road network. Many of the contributing factors to this epidemic such as deficient infrastructure, outdated standards, and poor enforcement can be addressed with proper political leadership, well trained agency staff, and knowledge resources. However,
June 11, 2019 Read time: 3 mins
Intelligent Variable Speed Enforcement System
While efforts to improve road safety on the Asian continent are finally starting to pay off, the challenge to reduce fatalities remains immense. According to the Asian Development Bank, 60% of the annual 1.2 million fatal traffic injuries take place on Asia’s road network. Many of the contributing factors to this epidemic such as deficient infrastructure, outdated standards, and poor enforcement can be addressed with proper political leadership, well trained agency staff, and knowledge resources.


However, technological innovation also offers an increasingly attractive pathway for Asia’s decision-makers. They need look no further than the Incheon International Airport Expressway, which comprises Yeongjong Grand Bridge, the world’s first three-dimensional self-anchored suspension bridge, running 4,420m with double-decked bridge that accommodates road (upper deck and lower deck) and railway (lower deck) traffic.

Dense fog and strong winds occur frequently on Yeongjong Grand Bridge located on the sea. On February 11th, 2015, fog had lowered visibility to 50m at the time of a serious crash which caused a 106-car rear-end collision on the bridge. After the accident, New Airport Hiway Co (NAH), which manages the facility, conducted a joint research program with Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Police Agency and the Road Traffic Authority to identify the traffic management countermeasures to ensure the driver’s safety at the weather-vulnerable marine bridge.

As a result of these coordinated efforts, NAH developed an Intelligent Variable Speed Enforcement System (iVSES). This monitors conditions such as fog, wind, rainfall and snowfall in real time, and transmits them to the traffic control centre which may in turn decide to lower the speed limit or close the bridge. Drivers are automatically notified of the new speed limit through a variety of channels including variable speed limit signs, variable message signs, lane control systems, the emergency broadcasting system, as well as fog lights. Simultaneously, the section video enforcement system detects any speed limit violations resulting from the changes to the speed limit. And an Automatic Incident Detection System detects any occurrences, such as stopped vehicles or pedestrians, within 15 seconds, and triggers the appropriate emergency protocols.

iVSES is the first variable speed enforcement system in Korea, and it can legally limit the speed of traffic according to weather conditions. Since its introduction on the Yeongjong Grand Bridge in 2017, traffic collisions have decreased by 34% and speeding vehicles by 74%. In recognition of the results and significant potential of this technology throughout Asia, iVSES was presented an IRF Global Road Achievement Award in the Road Safety Category.


Commenting on the award, Ji-Young Koh, President of New Airport Hiway Co, noted, “In the future, we hope that the project will become a reference in many countries around the world and lead to the introduction of innovative safety facilities to prevent car traffic accidents and ensure the safety of road users.”

Related Content

  • Weigh-in-motion key to maximising road life
    February 24, 2012
    The market and technology for weigh-in-motion systems continues to evolve – Mike Woof writes. for both mature and developing highway infrastructure networks, traffic densities play an important role in determining road wear and life. Monitoring traffic volumes and individual vehicle weight is crucial for ensuring roads can cope in the long term and that maintenance can be planned, while the problem of overloading can be eliminated.
    Read More
  • ADAS market will reach $460 billion Market by 2020, says ABI Research
    May 4, 2012
    Technology features that use sensors to watch around the vehicle have become common on luxury vehicles in recent years, but now availability is spreading to the mainstream higher-volume segments such as the Ford Focus and Mercedes B-Class. Camera image analysis continues to get more powerful and radar sensors are getting cheaper, with Lidar and ultrasonics still in the mix.
    Read More
  • Increase in German car crashes cause for concern
    August 27, 2014
    The fatality rate on Germany’s road network increased in the first half of 2014, compared with the same period last year. The preliminary figures from Germany's Federal Statistics Office, Destatis, show an increase in road deaths of 9.5% to 1,576 for the first six months of 2014. The level of injuries also rose by 10.6% to around 185,600 while the number of crashes in which people were injured rose 11.4% to 144,600. Overall however, the number of crashes dropped by 1.2% to 1.15 million. The reason for the i
    Read More
  • Vysionics helps Scottish watchdog A9 Safety Group win CIHT award
    September 16, 2015
    An installation of SPECS3 average speed cameras from Vysionics has helped a Scottish road safety watchdog win an award The A9 Safety Group, which monitors traffic, accidents and driving habits and conditions along the A9 trunk road, picked up the John Smart Road Safety Award from the CIHT - Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. The CIHT is concerned with planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of land-based transport systems and infrastructure. A9 Safety won the award
    Read More

Highlighted Content