As part of 3M South Africa’s ongoing participation in road safety across the globe, Vusi Tshabangu, Technical Manager at 3M Transport Safety Division, presented a talk on the importance of visible road infrastructure at the 9th Annual ITC Road Safety Summit that took place at the Indaba Hotel in Johannesburg on the 8th and 9th November 2017.
Whether it’s the wide range of vehicle sizes, aging drivers, or simply today’s complex roads, the need for highly visible signs has never been more crucial.
Sponsored by 3M South Africa, the summit offered a platform for key decision makers and other stakeholders in the transport industry to engage with traffic management and road safety personnel. “My presentation spoke to the pivotal importance of high quality road signage and markings as a starting point to all other safety initiatives,” said Tshabangu.
“To mitigate the risk of road accidents, road signs must be effective, highly visible and assist drivers through every part of their journey. 3M has spent many years and ongoing research in an effort to ensure our road safety solutions not only help prevent accidents, but are implemented correctly by the municipalities we assist by offering educational services to ensure global best practise.”
According to Tshabangu, the reflective sheeting from which road signs are made embody 3M’s dedication to its core ethos, “science applied to life”.
“Our high-performance materials combine with innovative systems and services to ensure the roadway systems in South Africa are able to comply with the highest standards available,” he says.
3M’s retro-reflective sign sheeting, he says, is designed to enhance safety for motorists by providing more visible road signs especially during the night, when more accidents occur. “We also offer license plate material for vehicle registration, as well the conspicuous reflective tape that you see on trucks, buses and taxis, to ensure motorists see these vehicles from a distance.”
In speaking at the Road Safety Summit, Tshabangu shared his knowledge of road safety enhancement products, as well as the need to invest in new technologies that offer the best long-term benefits with municipal managers, procurement executives, logistics and fleet management heads and other stakeholders.
“It’s important that this important group of people knows how 3M assists municipalities and road agencies in educating them about the reflective sheeting that could help improve visibility at night, so we will also be hosting demonstrations on product performance and how to engage with on 3M on safety solutions.”
Delegates at the Summit were also amongst the first to see 3M’s Advanced Engineering Grade Prismatic sheeting, manufactured using 3M’s micro-seal technology, which Tshabangu says, “is proving very successful in the road-safety arena”.
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