Unipart Dorman
A division of Unipart Logistics North America. The only choice in traffic calming and road safety products for municipalities everywhere. We cater specifically to highway safety engineers, schools, and emergency services in providing innovative independently proven safety standards unparalleled in the traffic calming industry.
Find out Why VATCS are the industry standard!
FHWA Confirms
Independent traffic
study proves our safety record!
Save Lives with ADVANCE HAZARD WARNING
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Ensure road curve safety with
SAFE
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ZONES
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Welcome to Unipart Dorman
and welcome to the No.1 LED display based traffic safety toolbox in North America
The leader in producing high quality affordable Driver Feedback Signs, Radar Speed Signs, VATCS, Sequential Work Zone Barricade warning lights and LED based Vehicle Activated Traffic Calming Solutions for traffic engineers throughout North America.
With support of the Unipart Group, Unipart Dorman has also become a leading light in the LED rail signalling industry with extensive product ranges available in more than 30 countries across five continents.
Every product is manufactured and conforms to appropriate international performance specifications, and we are ISO 9001:2000 registered.
VATCS at work making community streets safer in Calgary
The City of Calgary have chosen VATCS as the long term approach to addressing speed concerns on community streets where other forms of traditional traffic calming measures cannot be deployed successfully. Calgary communities consistently identify motor vehicle speeds on residential streets as an issue and after much research Unipart Dorman where delighted when VATCS was selected as a preferred solution.
Bruce McDougall transportation planner with the City recently presented a paper on the VATCS at the annual CITE conference, Manitoba, may 29th, the city now have over 20 posted speed series signs in operation and have recently introduced scheduled dual diagram signs for playground areas where speeds change by time of day. An extract form the paper may be located in the editorial on page 24 of the spring issue of the attached Equipment Review magazine.
Changing the face of work zones with intelligent night-time LED taper guides
Unipart Dorman are pleased to announce that the SynchroGUIDE has attained APL approval status with Florida DOT as awareness and adoption of the technology increases
Better driver recognition of the merging taper will deliver
• Safer driver approach speeds
• Maximize traffic flow - promotes smooth lane merge
• Less last second decisions / taper merge maneuvers
• Better work zone throughout
• Less risk of accident in the sector of the zone that has the highest current fatality rate.
Taper collisions account for over 50% of near miss incidents, which not only lead to injuries and fatalities , but can also cause highway congestion, delays and secondary incidents.
Expanding driver awareness and applications with VATCS in BC
Independent speed management studies confirm that the best results are achieved when a consistent and reasoned approach is used to increase driver awareness of excessive speed or impending road hazards.
In line with this proven philosophy Unipart Dorman are pleased to announce the introduction of two new signs to their VATCS traffic calming portfolio on projects that have been awarded by British Columbia Ministry of Transport.
The Advance Traffic Control and Cyclist Ahead VATCS are further examples of how the VATCS sign series can be deployed to provide a consistent, targeted and clear message to the driver, utilizing warning diagrams that are already recognized in the MUTCD.
The Advance Traffic Control VATCS may be installed in advance of a primary traffic control device (eg traffic circle), to give additional emphasis to the targeted driver, even when visibility distances to the device are satisfactory.
Targeted drivers are not informed what speed they are travelling, rather they are advised of the approaching traffic control requirement. The warning can be supplemented with SLOW DOWN, STOP or YIELD AHEAD text and further enhanced by dynamic flashing pairs of horizontal beacons.
The Cyclist Ahead VATCS another first for UD and BC MOT can be activated from inductive Zelt loop or microwave doppler radar to detect cyclist presence or vehicle approach speeds or a combination of both.
The sign may be installed to give additional emphasis to the targeted driver of cyclist activity ahead, in particular in circumstances where designated cyclist paths do not already exist or cyclists cross driver’s path.
Targeted drivers are not informed what speed they are travelling, rather they are advised of the cyclist presence. The warning can be supplemented with SLOW DOWN, or CYCLIST AHEAD text and further enhanced by dynamic flashing pairs of horizontal beacons. The VATCS are not a replacement for static signage or to be used as a repeater
February 2012: A New Year and a New Brand
Its a new year and what better time to launch a new brand , Dorman Varitext North America will be rebranding this year as Unipart Dorman.
Dorman Varitext North America was established in January 2007 after the acquisition of its UK parent company Varitext Ltd by Dorman of the Unipart Group in December 2006.
The North American team were delighted to secure the Unipart Dorman brand which teams together two of the most highly respected names in their respective industries for 2012.
Since 2007 the organization has seen year on year growth in the North American market place and secured a number of high profile projects, product approvals, key relationships with other leading industry recognized partners and more importantly from a completely new start are now providing product benefits to traffic safety clients in over 15 states and 5 provinces across USA and Canada respectively.
In line with our business model Unipart Dorman look forward to continuing to serve its growing client base, providing unique innovative product benefits with the internationally recognized unparalleled customer service and logistics support of the Unipart group. North American regional locations of Atlanta GA , Mahwah NJ , Brisbane CA and Toronto ON will support the Unipart Dorman North American brand from their Canadian HQ.
SynchroGUIDE chosen as ASSTHO TIG 2011 focus technology
Unipart Dorman in conjunction with Dicke Safety Products our strategic US partner for work zone traffic safety equipment are delighted to be able to announce that with the support and vision of Missouri DOT`s lead state nomination, Oklahoma DOT and feedback from travelling public, the SynchroGUIDE sequential barricade warning light system has been selected by the ASSHTO Technology Implementation Group (TIG) as a 2011 focus technology.
The ASSHTO TIG group mission is to scan the horizon for outstanding advancements in transportation technology and invests time and money to accelerate their adoption by agencies nationwide.
Each year, TIG selects a highly valuable, but largely unrecognized procedure, process, software, device, or other innovation that has been adopted by at least one agency, is market ready and is available for use by other interested agencies.
Guided by the vision of "a culture where rapid advancement and implementation of high payoff, innovative technologies is the expectation of the transportation community," TIG's objective is to share information with AASHTO member agencies, local agencies, and their industry partners to improve the Nation's transportation system.
1st Anniversary for SBC steady burn LED chevron series in BC
Unipart Dorman were pleased to receive the following feedback from British Columbia Ministry of Transport on the anniversary of their first ever steady burn LED chevron installation in North America in Clinton BC on Highway 97.
This is the 1st anniversary for the LED Chevrons at Walker's Curve and 1st snowfall of the year:
• 0 crashes
• 0 electrical problems
• 4 washes (compared to about 50 washes for the regular W-62 signs) $100 approx in electrical costs
• It is noted how the regular reflective sign visibility deteriorates in a snow storm compared to an LED sign.
We are very pleased with the results, thank you again for everyone's ingenuity to get these signs developed and implemented.
Michelle Schilling
Area Manager -- Clinton - Bridge Lake
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure -- Cariboo District
Tel. (250) 395-8948 Fax (250)395-6062
On the success of the initial trial , BCMOT will be installing a number of additional sites this fall and Unipart Dorman looks forward to expanding and sharing the Safety benefits of this technology with other provinces during 2011.
This section of highway has a high level of heavy truck traffic 30 to 50% and the curve in question had a high historical incident rate with 12 collisions being recorded during the period 2005 to 2008 equating to an average fatality rate of 1 person per year.
With 25% of the 40,000 fatalities in North America each year involving a curve , this is one product that deserves a second look.
It’s a Win-Win, VATCS do reduce fatalities and will benefit economy
When used downstream from fixed plate warning signs on curve locations with an accident history, VATCS have been independently proven to reduce speeds and accidents for the long term.
Ohio is the latest state to trial the technology, see two of the installations pictured south of Columbus in Franklin County.
VATCS is the only traffic calming display technology approach that has been independently large scale field tested to prove long term effectiveness with driver respect of the technology being maintained over a 3 year period with the TRL548 report (hyperlink TRL548 to research page on site) being the only internationally recognized study of its kind...