Webinar Overview
In most countries around the world about 30% of all road fatalities are single vehicle, non-pedestrian crashes where one car leaves the road and strikes a rigid object, rolls over or goes down a steep slope. A variety of low cost, very effective concepts are available to either eliminate these crashes or reduce the severity of these crashes.
This webinar will discuss three of these concepts: Rumble Strips, Sand Barrel Crash Attenuators and High Friction Surface Technology.
Rumble strips are used in the median or on the side of the road to audibly warn motorists that they are leaving their lane and in danger of leaving the road or crossing over into on-coming traffic.
Sand Barrel Crash Attenuators have been used for decades in the United States. They continue to be used today in work zones and in locations that are unlikely to be impacted frequently. These Sand Barrels eliminate the excuse that crash cushions are too expensive, and should be considered to protect motorists in every country in the world.
High Friction Surface Technologies have proven to be extremely effective when used in curves and/or at the approaches to intersections. They allow vehicles to stay on the road or to stop as required thereby greatly increasing motorist safety at these locations.
Moderator
Michael G. Dreznes assumed his current position of Executive Vice-President of the International Road Federation (IRF) in February of 2012.
Prior to accepting his position at IRF, Dreznes was Vice-President of Barrier Systems Inc. for four years. Dreznes served as the Deputy Director General of the Washington Program Center of the International Road Federation (IRF) from July 2006 to February 2008. He worked as Vice- President at Quixote Corporation (Energy Absorption Systems, Inc.) for twenty years starting in 1986, where he was hired to create an international department for Quixote Corporation.
Dreznes has spent the last 30 years working to make the roads safer around the world. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading specialists on roadside safety promoting the concept of “Forgiving Roads,” and has conducted multiple road safety training seminars on roadside safety, work zone safety, vulnerable user safety and road safety audit in more than sixty countries around the world.
Dreznes is the Co-Chairman of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) AFB20 (2) Roadside Safety Sub-Committee on International Research Activities, Co-Chairman of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) Decade of Action Pillar 2: Safer Roads and Mobility Project Group, a member of the PIARC Road Safety Technical Committee 3.2 Design and Operation of Safer Road Infrastructure, a member of TASK FORCE 13 Committee on Work Zone Safety, Staff Advisor to the IRF Washington Road Safety Working Group as well as Immediate Past Chairman of the IRF Fellowship Educational Foundation (IREF).
In January 2015, Dreznes was named the winner of the TRB AFB20 Roadside Safety Design Kenneth Stonex Lifetime Achievement Award.
Dreznes lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife of forty–three years, Margaret. They have three grown and married children, Mike, Laura and Sarah, five grandsons, Patrick, Benjamin, Michael, Brock and Connor and four granddaughters, Caitlin, Rieve, Sabela and Elizabeth.
Presenters
John Holbert
Director of Sales & Marketing, Chief Estimator | Surface Preparation Technologies, LLC
- B.S. Management Information Systems, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- 28 years experience in highway and pedestrian safety
- SPT General Manager 1988 to 2000 and rejoined to company in 2013
- SPT is the largest rumble strip contractor and works in 49 states
- Resides in Mechanicsburg, PA; married with 4 children
Frank Julian
Highway Safety Engineer | FHWA Resource Center’s Safety and Design Team
- Frank graduated from Auburn University in 1977 with a B.S. in Civil Engineering.
- Before joining FHWA Frank worked for 11 years for:
- for David Volkert and Associates Consulting Engineers.
- for the Alabama DOT
- as a construction manager in the Construction Division of an international company (H.H. Robertson, Inc.)
- He has been with FHWA since June, 1986 and his previous assignments were in the Florida and Georgia Division and the Region 4 Office.
- Currently, Frank works nationally in all areas of highway safety, but his primary focus is developing and deploying countermeasures for roadway departure crashes.
- This involves working in the areas of roadside design and safety hardware including cable barrier, safety edge, rumble strips, and high friction pavement surfaces.
