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A2 Świecko - Konin | Every kilometer matters
Notice Us – React – Slow Down
April marks the beginning of spring maintenance works on the Autostrada Wielkopolska motorway and a period of increased presence of maintenance crews on traffic lanes. To ensure the highest possible level of safety for road workers, a social awareness campaign “Notice Us! React! Slow Down.” has just been launched on the concession section of the A2 motorway between Świecko and Konin.
In addition to a traditional information campaign carried out at Rest and Service Areas (MOP) located along the concession section of the A2 Świecko–Konin and through social media channels, campaign messages prepared by Autostrada Eksploatacja and Autostrada Wielkopolska will also be displayed on Variable Message Signs (VMS).
The aim of the campaign is to draw special attention to people and equipment working on the roadway and to raise drivers’ awareness that following three simple rules:
- Notice – ongoing works and the people performing them,
- React – take your foot off the accelerator,
- Slow down – when approaching equipment operating on the roadway, without waiting until the last moment,
helps ensure the safety of both drivers and road workers.
Although driver satisfaction surveys conducted on the motorway section show that over 92% of respondents rate the signage of maintenance works positively, and nearly 90% of drivers declare that they comply with speed limits and slow down when approaching working equipment, incidents involving collisions with protective devices still occur despite proper safety measures and warning signs.
Last year alone, Autostrada Eksploatacja recorded 14 incidents involving equipment operating on the roadway on the A2 section between Świecko and Konin, including four collisions with crash cushions. According to data provided by the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA), 29 incidents involving maintenance services occurred last year on motorways managed by GDDKiA, resulting in four injuries.
To ensure that information about ongoing works reaches drivers in time, warning messages are broadcast in work zones, alerting drivers to the presence of equipment and road workers on traffic lanes. These messages are transmitted via devices installed in maintenance vehicles.
Warning message transmitters, operating similarly to CB radio communications, have reduced the number of incidents involving road services in Germany by 30%. After nearly a year of testing this solution, we decided to equip all Motorway Maintenance Units with this type of device,” explains Wojciech Martynów, Director of Motorway Operations at Autostrada Eksploatacja.
Additionally, special energy-absorbing safety barriers equipped with signal boards are used at work sites to protect both employees and road users travelling along the A2 motorway.
Crash cushions, as these barriers are commonly known, have already saved lives on numerous occasions—both of drivers and our employees,” adds Wojciech Martynów.
However, in order for maintenance activities such as cleaning barriers, road signs and emergency columns, repairing post-winter pavement damage, mowing median strips or even collecting litter discarded by drivers to be carried out safely, cooperation from drivers and their attention to road conditions ahead are essential.
For this reason, last year patrol vehicles and intervention units of Autostrada Eksploatacja were equipped with new, high-intensity illuminated arrow signs, enabling drivers to see them from a distance and promptly decide to change lanes.
Our observations show that this type of signage has proven effective. Drivers change lanes earlier and more smoothly, avoiding our equipment and crews. This applies to both passenger vehicles and heavy goods vehicles,” summarizes Michał Malicki, Motorway Maintenance Units Coordinator.
Carrying out works on a live motorway, even with the highest level of protection, involves significant stress and risk. Motorways and express roads are high-speed routes, which is why reducing speed at the right moment—without overestimating one’s abilities or relying solely on in-vehicle systems—is crucial.
In general, road safety is influenced by three factors. The first is road infrastructure, which we provide at the highest level, both in terms of investment and ongoing maintenance, to ensure safe and comfortable travel. The second factor is the vehicle, increasingly equipped with advanced driver assistance and early warning systems. However, the most important element remains the human being. It is the driver who decides when to slow down and exercise extra caution. Driver concentration and compliance with regulations have the greatest impact—on their own life and health, as well as that of other road users,” says Michał Pabich, Road Safety Expert at Autostrada Wielkopolska.
Road safety is a shared responsibility. Even the best infrastructure and most advanced technologies cannot replace driver awareness and common sense. Ultimately, it is conscious decisions made behind the wheel that determine whether a journey ends safely.
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