Traffic Safety
Tyre anomalies, such as flat, underinflated, missing or mismatched diameter tyres result in vehicle imbalance, improper load distribution and potential safety issues. Overloaded or overinflated tyres not only experience increased wear and tear, they also have an increased risk of a blowout. These tyre anomalies are a major factor in traffic accidents and are a safety concern for inspection agencies and road tunnel operators.
Tyre anomaly detection systems are special WIM systems using either SIM-sensors or an array of in-road WIM sensors capable of measuring the tyre-to-road contact area for every tyre that comes in contact with the sensors. The sensors produce a stream of data containing time, distance and pressure information from numerous points along the length of the sensors installed in the surface of the road. The measurement data from the tyres is processed by roadside electronics, and system software evaluates whether a tyre should be flagged. These ‘flagged’ vehicles may be selected for inspection by vehicle or transport inspectors or be refused access to a certain road section, e.g. a tunnel. Such tyre anomaly detection systems are independent of the speed of the vehicle and provide measurement data at low speeds as well as highway speeds.