The Jammu-Srinagar highway in India is voted as one of the world's deadliest highways, according to National Geographic. It has over 150 deadly hairpin bends. 80% of car accidents on this highway occur due to these hairpin bends, as drivers seldom know what is coming from the other side of the blind spot. They often miss the warning signs due to zero visibility and end up over speeding on these turns. The challenge was to get drivers to slow down at these hairpin bends to avoid road accidents and casualties. Our idea is "Roads that Honk" The world's first ever road that honks at drivers to avoid head-on collisions and casualties. The design and technology roughly estimated to $20,000 USD which includes transports, installation, etc.

We designed smart life poles with radar technology that reads the speed of the approaching vehicles at both ends, and then communicate with each other to alert drivers on both sides of the blind curve with the sound of a horn. The sound indicates the drivers to slow down and cross each other safely. The smartlife poles are an advanced networked vehicle detection and warning system. The main components are: Vehicle detection and speed sensing radar, warning system that comprises of LED and a horn, power supply, motherboard and software and 865 MHz radio for networking of the poles. These poles are MS/Lacquer glass finish, in order to withstand any given weather radio for networking of the poles. These poles are MS/Lacquer glass finish, in order to withstand any given weather condition – rain, snow or fog.

Since this product had to reside in extreme weather, we had to look at material which withstands rain, fog, heat, etc. The installation is 7ft tall, making it visible for drivers while they are speeding. The smart life poles are powered solely via clean solar energy, made of MS/Lacquer glass finish, in order to withstand any given weather condition.