MURRAY, Utah — 3D technology has been installed at several intersections in the Salt Lake City area to help make roads safer for everyone.
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) tracks everything that happens at the intersection with 99.98 percent accuracy.
“This allows us to make adjustments after the fact,” Utah Department of Transportation spokesman John Gleason said, “If we have a lot of red light runs, we can analyze the data, if there are any near misses that we weren't able to track, we can make adjustments to signal times or anything else that needs to be adjusted to improve safety.”
Motorcyclist Jason Danielson knows how dangerous the intersection of 5900 South and State Street in Murray can be. In 2019, he was riding his bike and minding his own business when a car pulled in front of him.
“The bike fell over and I must have rolled about 20 or 30 feet into the intersection,” he recalled. “The bike just went sideways.”
Danielson has recovered from his injuries, but he's a bit skeptical about the new LiDAR technology.
“I think it's great for reconstructing and investigating accidents, but I don't think it's very useful for preventing post-incident reactions,” he said.
But UDOT doesn't believe Danielson has the full picture and that LiDAR will make intersections safer anytime soon.
“Until now, we haven't had the ability to make real-time adjustments,” Gleason argues. “If someone is crossing the road and they trip and can't get there in time, if you have a signal, it automatically adjusts the time to make it safe for them to cross without you having to do anything manually.”
The system software costs between $30,000 and $40,000, and by the end of the year, UDOT plans to test LiDAR at other intersections in Provo.
Ultimately, everyone agrees that technology alone can only go so far in keeping Utah's roads safe.
“There's no silver bullet,” Gleason said. “We're on the ground understanding what's going on and making adjustments, but it really just takes people doing their part.”
