Nothing catches the attention of drivers like flashing lights. School zone beacons are used to help warn vehicular traffic of increased pedestrian traffic and reduced speed limits during school hours. In school zones, they help keep children safe by cautioning oncoming traffic to slow down to the designated speed and be aware of children in the area.
Basic Features
School zone beacons are flashing lights placed above the school zone signs. They are triggered by timers that manage ON and OFF times and are part of a network of clocks that are used to adjust the timing of the flashing beacons remotely from a single distant computer. This means that should weather require a change in the flash time of the beacons, the signals are immediately modified to turn ON for an early dismissal or not turned ON for a delayed opening. They can also be programmed to automatically adjust for Daylight Savings and Leap Year.
These beacons can also be either AC-powered with an optional battery backup or DC solar-powered using highly efficient solar panels. Those that are powered by the sun are sized according to their electrical load and geographic location so as to ensure that there is sufficient power for the flashing beacons at all times.
Basic Benefits
School zone beacons protect children around their schools by reducing the speed of passing cars and decreasing the likelihood of vehicle accidents. They are a low cost, low maintenance traffic alternative that ensures children can walk and bike safely to school. They can easily be installed by the Public Works Department of any city or town, thereby saving the cost of hiring outside contractors.
Beacons that are powered by the sun are ideal where underground power is not readily available where the school zone is active. There is a large cost to installing drop down transformers and if there is a grid outage, the school zone flashers will not operate. Solar-powered beacons will work without fail any time the flashers are needed, even for special occasions different than school hours, and so are an ideal solution for a variety of issues in the traffic industry.