Cal Trans operates nearly five-thousand traffic signals statewide. And the department continues to educate motorists about how to safely navigate lights that are flashing red or without power. And with the storm season approaching, Public Information Officer Raquel Borrayo says in their latest video News Flash that you can find on their website they highlight their use of what’s called “retroreflective bordered backplates”.You’ve seen them at numerous highway and interchange intersections in Nevada County and elsewhere. Borrayo says while the signals switch to battery power automatically, they can still go dark if outages last several hours…

Borrayo says these yellow strips placed around the perimeter of signals increase their visibility in both bright as well as dark conditions. And the Federal Highway Administration says this countermeasure have accounted or a 50-percent reduction in collisions occuring late at night or early in the morning, nationwide, with a 36-percent injury decrease…

The Cal Trans News Flash is the 226th in this series.