This is the time of year where safety becomes more personal,
perhaps because of family holiday travel. This December, I find myself on the
campus of Penn State at the Transportation Engineering and Safety Conference
(TESC) promoting safe data collection using Terrestrial Mobile LiDAR Scanning
(TMLS). The flight to Penn State started with an unexpected celebrity aboard,
University of Nebraska Athletic Director, Tom Osborne. I began absorbing the
football theme this trip appeared to be taking. I quickly realized the lesson
the universe was throwing at me was going to be about teamwork.
The keynote speaker at lunch was Pennsylvania Department of
Transportation Secretary, Barry Schoch, He addressed an audience of 500 other
safety-minded professionals telling them they have “a duty to apply technology
to transportation safety working as an
industry with a collective set of ideas and technologies. You have to show
a willingness to reinvent yourself.” Then, like a 52- yard field goal Schoch
went on to say, “Collectively we have to be willing to try new ideas, to push the envelope as a leader in safety”.
Push the envelope! All of a sudden I was in the huddle
getting pumped for a play that was coming my way! “Pushing the envelope” was a
term that has guided me my entire career as a surveyor and into LiDAR
technology. Pushing… What is the technology designed to do?... What can it
do?.... What else can it do?
How refreshing to hear my shared passion for safety that
promoted teamwork. Schoch understands what I have been promoting for many years
about LiDAR technology and the industry. He said we must embrace change as
surveyors, engineers and the public driving sector, he called “shareholders”,
as it applies to transportation safety and the role of technology. Instead of
worrying about the past ways of approaching issues think more about the new
tools that provide opportunities for a better, safer outcome.
Schoch went on to say that with immediate results… showing
immediate return… the funding will support it because “the only way to get from
today to tomorrow is by providing immediate benefits”. How refreshing to hear
my shared passion for safety that promised support through teamwork and backed by funding.
TMLS is the tool that takes surveyors safely out of the red
zone during data acquisition. As the vehicle moves at highways speeds
unobtrusively in traffic it is also safer for the traveling the public. No lane
closures, no roadside distractions and no stopping. The immediate benefits
reach beyond survey grade accuracy at traditional survey cost. After all what
is the cost of saving one life?
From all of us at Terrametrix we wish you and yours a safe
holiday season.
