Tools for Improving Visibility for Snow Plowing

Status: Active
Project Start Date: No Date

Summary:

The ability for snowplow operators to see ahead and around their equipment is crucial to the safe and efficient clearing and treatment of roadways during storm events. Under poor visibility, a plow operator may lose situational awareness of their surroundings, which includes other vehicles, the edge or center of the roadway, ditches, curbs, and so forth. Aside from the direct safety impacts on the travelling public in the form of a potential crash, the loss of visibility by plow operators means a need to pay even closer attention to their environment, leading to increased fatigue, stress, etc. Low visibility also increases the likelihood of striking minor objects, such as concrete curbing, leading to the potential for operator injuries to occur, not to mention infrastructure damage.

Final Deliverables:

Related Materials:

Related Research:

Project Personnel:

Principal Investigator: David Veneziano
Co-Principal Investigator: Jonathan Wood
Technical Liaison: Joe Wilson
Project Coordinator: Briah Carlson
Panel Members:
    Brent Holland - District 1
    Brian Berent - Crow Wing
    Daniel Rowe - Transportation System Management and Operations
    John Schlangen - Lake County
    Kevin Schlangen - Dakota County
    Steven Blaufuss - Maintenance