MeltSmartTM LED Traffic Signals receives authorization to mark cETLus for CSA & UL compliance.

Witnesses say a traffic light obscured by snow was a factor in a three-vehicle accident involving a fully-loaded school bus in south Windsor on Thursday morning.

DALSON CHEN, WINDSOR STAR
Updated: February 26, 2016

Witnesses say a traffic light obscured by snow was a factor in a three-vehicle accident involving a fully-loaded school bus in South Windsor on Thursday morning.

“I went up to (the school bus driver) and said ‘What the hell happened?” said Ron Godin, the driver of a pickup truck that was involved in the collision.

“She said, ‘I didn’t see the red light because there was snow on the light.’ That’s what she told me.”

The crash happened shortly before 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Provincial and Sixth Concession Road, including the school bus, a grey Chrysler 200, and Godin’s GMC Sierra.

Godin said his truck was behind the Chrysler sedan in the northbound lane of Sixth Concession Road.

The light turned green for northbound traffic and the Chrysler entered the intersection. According to Godin, that’s when the school bus entered the intersection in the eastbound lanes — against a red light.

Godin said the bus smashed into the sedan’s driver side, hitting with such force that it pushed the car’s rear passenger side into Godin’s Sierra.

Godin said his truck took minor damage, but the sedan was “totalled.”

Godin got out to check on the female driver of the Chrysler — the car’s lone occupant. The efforts of firefighters were needed to remove the woman from the vehicle. Godin said she was conscious and talking.

Godin also checked on the packed school bus and spoke to its female driver. “I looked, and the red light was covered with snow. You couldn’t see the red light … But she should have stopped or slowed down,” Godin said.

The school bus was full of Grade 3 students from Queen Victoria Public School.

The driver of the car, the driver of the bus, and three others from the bus were taken to the hospital.

Godin — a 61-year-old mould maker — wasn’t hurt. “I drove my truck to Dan Kane to get it fixed.”

According to the public school board, two children and one staff member required “direct medical attention for unspecified injuries.”

The bus contained 32 students and five staff members in all. They were on a field trip — headed to a

Pediatric R.E.A.D. (Reading Early Accelerates Development)

event at the Ciociaro Club.

The event is meant to promote literacy and allows students to meet with authors.

The accident scene closed the intersection to traffic for almost 90 minutes. Police reopened the intersection around noon.

 

LED Signals Seen as Potential Hazard

CHICAGO — Last April, the driver of a pickup truck approaching an intersection in the far western suburb of Oswego went past a red light obscured by snow and struck a 34-year-old woman turning left in her car.

The woman died and four other people were injured in the accident, which was among the first to raise concerns here and around the Midwest about a relatively new driving hazard related to inclement weather: traffic signals, like those in Oswego, that use light-emitting diodes, known as LEDs.

The new lighting is part of a fast-growing trend in environmentalism. LED bulbs use less energy, last longer and are more visible than their predecessors. They are also known to require less maintenance. But they do not emit nearly as much heat as conventional bulbs, allowing snow and ice to accumulate more easily in certain conditions.

As winter storms roared through the country’s midsection and pummeled the East Coast, officials said they were on the alert for LEDs.

In Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and other states, special efforts are being made to ensure that the signals do not pose an undue threat to drivers.

“Do I think the accident would have happened if the light was not covered in snow?” said Detective Rob Sherwood of the Oswego Police Department, referring to the accident in April. “I’d be willing to bet that it would not have happened if the driver that went through the light had an unobstructed view of the signal. It was the first indication in this community that the LED lights were not melting the snow.”

In the last seven years, Wisconsin has converted more than 90 percent of the lighting under state control to LED bulbs.

“We certainly do see crashes and accidents attributed to the fact that people can’t see the heads,” said Joanna Bush, a traffic signal systems engineer for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, referring to traffic signals’ colored lenses. “Due to the volume of snow we’ve been getting — good, wet heavy snow — it packs in.”

Transportation officials have been dispatching workers with brooms to clear the lenses, Ms. Bush said. They are also experimenting with a solution that is less labor-intensive and more permanent, outfitting some of the lenses with sloping snow shields to make it harder for snow to stick.

In bad conditions, officials said, only one side of a two-sided traffic signal might become obscured — making traffic heading in one direction most vulnerable, depending on which way wind-driven snow blows.

“We’re reactive,” said Dale Tech, the city engineer in Rapid City, S.D. “If the snow is just right and the snow sticks to the light, we have to go out manually and remove the ice.”

Mr. Tech said LED signals had resulted in the consumption of about 30 percent less energy for Rapid City in the two years they have been in use. The snow-packing problem is a nuisance, he said, but has been minimal because it requires a combination of wind and wet snow that does not occur very often.

In Minnesota, an official said there had been snow-packing problems even with conventional bulbs.

“Drivers should take a common-sense approach,” said Maj. Al Smith, a special operations officer with the Minnesota State Police. “If you can’t see the light, just take it as a safety precaution to slow down and be prepared to stop for crossing traffic.”

For most states, the benefits of LEDs are greater than the downside, officials said. LEDs contain no toxic elements and can last so long — for years — that disposal is not much of an issue.

Their tendency to collect snow “isn’t enough to convince us to move over from LEDs,” said Ms. Bush, the Wisconsin official. “When you look at all the things we deal with during a snow event — stop signs and other signs get covered — that hasn’t stopped us from using them.”

 

MeltSmartTM LED Traffic Signals receives authorization to mark cETLus for CSA & UL compliance.

Witnesses say a traffic light obscured by snow was a factor in a three-vehicle accident involving a fully-loaded school bus in south Windsor on Thursday morning.

DALSON CHEN, WINDSOR STAR
Updated: February 26, 2016

Witnesses say a traffic light obscured by snow was a factor in a three-vehicle accident involving a fully-loaded school bus in South Windsor on Thursday morning.

“I went up to (the school bus driver) and said ‘What the hell happened?” said Ron Godin, the driver of a pickup truck that was involved in the collision.

“She said, ‘I didn’t see the red light because there was snow on the light.’ That’s what she told me.”

The crash happened shortly before 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Provincial and Sixth Concession Road, including the school bus, a grey Chrysler 200, and Godin’s GMC Sierra.

Godin said his truck was behind the Chrysler sedan in the northbound lane of Sixth Concession Road.

The light turned green for northbound traffic and the Chrysler entered the intersection. According to Godin, that’s when the school bus entered the intersection in the eastbound lanes — against a red light.

Godin said the bus smashed into the sedan’s driver side, hitting with such force that it pushed the car’s rear passenger side into Godin’s Sierra.

Godin said his truck took minor damage, but the sedan was “totalled.”

Godin got out to check on the female driver of the Chrysler — the car’s lone occupant. The efforts of firefighters were needed to remove the woman from the vehicle. Godin said she was conscious and talking.

Godin also checked on the packed school bus and spoke to its female driver. “I looked, and the red light was covered with snow. You couldn’t see the red light … But she should have stopped or slowed down,” Godin said.

The school bus was full of Grade 3 students from Queen Victoria Public School.

The driver of the car, the driver of the bus, and three others from the bus were taken to the hospital.

Godin — a 61-year-old mould maker — wasn’t hurt. “I drove my truck to Dan Kane to get it fixed.”

According to the public school board, two children and one staff member required “direct medical attention for unspecified injuries.”

The bus contained 32 students and five staff members in all. They were on a field trip — headed to a

Pediatric R.E.A.D. (Reading Early Accelerates Development)

event at the Ciociaro Club.

The event is meant to promote literacy and allows students to meet with authors.

The accident scene closed the intersection to traffic for almost 90 minutes. Police reopened the intersection around noon.