A CHILD might have been killed if a 40kmh speed zone sign hadn’t been operating.

A Willowbank School student narrowly escaped being hit by a car after reaching out to pick up her bag off the road.

Fortunately the car was travelling at the 40kmh limit.

“Her head was right where the car stopped,” principal Deidre Alderson says.

If it had been going any faster the community could have been grieving her loss, she says.

Road policing senior sergeant Mike Stopforth says this is just one story and he’s sure there are more.

“The signs are well worth what they cost if they save one child.”

The high visibility signs display a 40kmh speed limit and have been installed outside at-risk schools where speeding drivers have been identified. They are turned on at the start and end of the school day.

Mrs Alderson says it’s made a big difference to the safety of the 805 primary students at the school gates each day.

“The volume of traffic has decreased slightly because people are aware they are going to have to slow down.

“We’ve had lots of positive comments from the community and it gives you an increased confidence that our children are safer.”

The signs are also helping to change driver attitudes.

“I did have a mum say to me that it’s so ingrained in her she was travelling past on a Sunday and found herself going down to 40kmh,” she says.

Mrs Alderson would like the $15,000 signs to be mandatory at all schools.

Police have noted a significant reduction in the speed of cars travelling past Elm Park School, which also has one of the signs.

“The feedback we are getting from schools is all positive,” Mr Stopforth says.

He says extra care is needed when driving near schools because children are unpredictable.

“Drivers need to remember that when the signs are not illuminated care still needs to be taken because there may be kids in the area doing other activities,” Mr Stopforth says.

Article written by NICOLA WILLIAMS of the Eastern Courier as seen on stuff.co.nz

As a leading ITS solutions provider HMI is taking its technologies to international clients at this years ITS World Congress held in Busan Korea. Read the rest of this entry »

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Levin Temperature Display

HMI has specially designed and manufactured the temperature display mounted in Levin for Timeworx Auckland.  Previously the display was a poorly functioning electromagnetic item which worked only intermittently. The new display was a custom one off with a large digit size of over half a meter and an extra wide viewing angle allowing it to be seen from both far & wide.

Paul of Timeworx has mentioned he was very happy with the project which has seen a “highly visible display installed and commissioned ahead of the project planned final completion date.” Paul also went on to say “HMI was very helpful and quick to respond, additional parts were delivered overnight to Levin.

HMI successfully saw through the manufacture and installation of several (7m x 2.5m) Advanced Traffic Management variable message signs mounted on 18m Gantries for NZTA on the Auckland Motorway Network. The final assembly which saw the merging of the VMS with the gantry was completed in the HMI work shop with the full Truck & trailer unit being driven in undercover for completion.

To ensure the swift and safe installation and commissioning of the signs and gantries a full motorway closure from 11pm through to 6am each night was required. The commitment of all partners and HMI’s effective project management has seen the successful culmination of all components of the project on time and within Specification.

HMI’s technical service team have become certified Site Safe Gold Card supervisors, the course is specifically designed in collaboration with industry to target those who need a more in depth knowledge of onsite health and safety.

HMI’s commitment to health and safety ensures staff have the means to eliminate, isolate and minimise hazards to make sure the no accident safety record is maintained.

Our service technician’s expertise can be called upon to work on any work site with confidence.

HMI is proud to announce that members of our service team have received Site Traffic Management Supervisor (STMS) level 2/3 non practicing certification. This allows them to draw, submit and execute traffic management plans as well as manage and oversee sites on all roads except high flow roads such as motorways. All other staff that work on site are certified as Traffic Controllers, these certifications ensure HMI is well resourced to safely and effectively complete jobs on or around the road network.