, 2009-May-08
Integrated mobility expert Siemens has welcomed the findings of a report on UK road safety by the National Audit Office highlighting the need to tackle road safety for young pedestrians and cyclists country-wide.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Gordon Wakeford, Managing Director Siemens Mobility, said: “There’s no doubt that road safety initiatives have received greater focus over the last few years and we commend the UK Government for its commitment to significantly reducing the number of child fatalities and overall road death statistics. However, as a nation we have some way to go and it is essential that we strive to introduce new and innovative solutions to help meet more stringent targets.”
He continued: “As the numbers of cars on busy UK roads continue to increase so should our focus on keeping drivers, passengers, other road users and pedestrians as safe as possible. We are a densely populated country and must ensure an ongoing responsible approach to overall road and traffic safety. Rather than deliberate what has been achieved to date we should concentrate on what can be attained in the future and welcome innovative approaches and technology that help change behaviour and drive improvements.
“As a company we operate a subsidised ‘cycle to work’ scheme, allowing our employees to select a brand new bicycle and use it for their commute to work as one of their company benefits. It is therefore even more important that we increase road and cycle safety to help keep our staff safe both in and out of work.”
Recognised as the UK market leader in traffic solutions, Siemens has an extensive portfolio of products and solutions to assist traffic managers and authorities to reduce congestion and keep traffic moving within safe and recognised speed limits and restrictions. These include:
- Highly visible variable message and information signs
- Hi-tech detection solutions to monitor everything from intersections through to motorways
- A comprehensive range of pedestrian crossing and intersection traffic controllers and signals.
Additional developments include traffic management systems aimed at better informing motorists and increasing visibility of traffic congestion to the travelling public. New enforcement solutions are also being introduced to reduce the number of speeding offences and other traffic violations, for example driving in bus lanes. Siemens UTC (Urban Traffic Control) monitors traffic in real-time and is capable of adjusting traffic signals to match prevailing conditions, thus increasing network efficiency. Siemens’ systems also provide up-to-the-minute traffic information on signs and online to enable people to make informed decisions about their journeys.
Siemens is committed to continuous product development and innovation and in addition to its dedicated traffic solutions business also has a dedicated research and development company - Roke - which employs some 400 scientists and engineers in the UK. Wholly owned by Siemens, Roke also works for many commercial organisations, government departments and defence agencies.
Roke has a deep heritage in tracking, location and sensing technology and has developed box junction monitoring, to determine when a vehicle is stationary for too long on a box junction.
Roke’s experience of anomaly detection has also been incorporated into its product VMAD (Video Motion Anomaly Detection) which can monitor traffic and alert authorities if a car is behaving in an abnormal way - such as performing a U-turn on a busy road. VMAD is based on Roke’s knowledge of vision based processing and adaptive self-learning in real time systems.
To make crossing a road safer, by monitoring the timing and flow of pedestrians, Roke’s VMAD system can also be used to count people on a road crossing. This technology can help in areas near schools, where volume and variability of usage can have huge impacts on child safety and road congestion.
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Notes to editors:
About Siemens in the UKSiemens was established in the United Kingdom 166 years ago and now employs 18,402 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £3.7 billion. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
As part of Siemens in the UK, Siemens Mobility employs around 1800 people, providing expertise and technology in rolling stock, rail infrastructure, traffic solutions and infrastructure logistics to the UK transport industry. For more information on Siemens Mobility please visit www.siemens.co.uk/mobility.
For more information contact:
Laurie Waugh
PR Manager
Siemens plc
Tel. +44 (0)1276 696310
Mob: +44 (0)7921 242074
