US Highway Unveils World-first Tire Pressure Technology
OXFORD, England, December 20, 2016 --
Motorists in the state of Georgia will today (20th December) be the first in the world to use a new technology that measures both tire pressure and tread depth in seconds, without the need for any equipment on the vehicle. The unique, drive-over technology has been adopted by The Ray, an 18 mile stretch of highway on West Georgia's Interstate 85, which aims to show how zero deaths, zero waste and zero carbon can be achieved on US highways.
The award-winning tire monitoring technology has been developed by WheelRight, a company based in Oxford, UK. The business believes that its easy-to-use system could drastically improve safety on US roads, helping to reduce the 35,000 fatal accidents that occur every year.
American Department of Transport data demonstrates that underinflated tires can lead to skidding, hydroplaning, increased stopping distance and blowouts. All of these issues increase the risk of crashes that can result in fatalities and injuries. The International Tire and Rubber Association cites tire under-inflation as the single most common factor in tire failure.
Working in conjunction with other networked safety systems on The Ray, the WheelRight solution is ideal for smart city applications, providing detailed tire condition information instantly via printed read-outs or directly to mobile phones or laptops.
This will be the first publicly available installation of the WheelRight drive-over tire safety system anywhere in the US. Results of tire pressures and tread depth measurements will be provided automatically on all tires within seconds via a touch-sensitive kiosk that provides a printed read-out to drivers.
While tire pressures are taken when the vehicle drives over the road-embedded sensor plates, tread depth is measured via sophisticated multi-image technology and imaging software.
John Catling is CEO and a founder of WheelRight. He said: "Motorists just need to drive over our embedded strip to receive their tire readings within seconds via a print-out at a nearby kiosk. There's no need for any other kit on the car itself. We think this kind of cloud-based technology is going to revolutionise the way people look after their tires - reducing accidents, costs and carbon emissions."
The WheelRight system was unveiled at an event at The Ray on Tuesday 20th December, which was attended by Governor Nathan Deal, Governor of the State of Georgia.
For information contact St John White at stjohnw@provapr.co.uk or call +44-1926-776900.
SOURCE WheelRight
