To simulate high-risk crash scenarios involving vulnerable road users, researchers use testing devices that simulate an adult pedestrian, a child pedestrian, and an adult-sized bicycle driven by a belt system.

Each device uses a rig and belts to support speeds of up to 20 kilometers per hour. The rig can be triggered manually or automatically through a field research vehicle traveling past light bar sensors to perfectly time different conflict scenarios. Sensors in autonomous vehicles can detect the devices to advance research on the interaction between vulnerable road users and autonomous vehicles.

Smart technologies enable wireless communication with equipped vehicles and other devices.

The vulnerable road user testbed, a platform located on the TFHRC campus, enables research on safety technologies for pedestrians and other VRUs using bicycles, electronic scooters, or wheelchairs.

The testbed is an intersection with two signals and a marked midblock crossing. It features pedestrian call buttons, signal heads with countdown timers, and changeable graphic tiles in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as technology including forward-looking infrared sensors and light detection and ranging.

The FHWA smartphone-based midblock pedestrian crossing in-vehicle warning application was designed to allow pedestrians at a midblock crossing to notify nearby drivers of their presence.

FRVs are used on real roadways to collect, record, and analyze multiple vehicle measurements, such as steering wheel angle, vehicle speed, accelerator position, brake usage, distance traveled, turn signal usage, and steering wheel button usage. These vehicles enable researchers to better understand driver behavior and performance.
 

The roadside unit is a wireless radio that broadcasts messages, like traveler information and basic safety communications, to and from the Transportation Management Center or the Vehicle-to-Everything Hub as well as vehicles and enables research-related applications. Since the unit's mounting is critical to the quality and consistency of the broadcasts, the roadside unit has been placed on a traffic light's mast arm to ensure the best coverage.

The thermal pedestrian camera is capable of detecting and relaying pedestrian position, movement direction, and speed to the Vehicle-to-Everything Hub or the Transportation Management Center. In combination with light detection and ranging sensors mounted at the intersection, these cameras are crucial to researching safety applications for pedestrians and vulnerable road users in connected and automated vehicle environments.

STOL's dynamic message sign makes a significant impact on vehicle and pedestrian safety. Using information from the Vehicle-to-Everything Hub and the Transportation Management Center, warning messages are displayed if unsafe driving is detected, such as vehicle speed that is too fast for that stretch of road.
 

Roadway weather is a critical component of the research conducted at the Saxton Lab.

Researchers use an automated weather station equipped with a variety of weather sensors that detect air temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, and solar radiation.

Preempting the traffic signal controller to provide a green light at the intersection allows services like fire, police, and ambulances to pass safely and efficiently through intersections during an emergency response.