Connected Snowploughs Cut Crashes on Utah Roads
A Utah trial of vehicle-to-everything technology on snowploughs and traffic signals recorded crash reductions on equipped winter routes.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Telecommunications
Live Poll
Would you feel safer driving on roads where snowplows can change traffic lights?
Utah tested connected snowploughs on five winter corridors around Salt Lake City from October 2019 to March 2020, using vehicle-to-everything technology in ploughs and roadside devices near traffic signals. Equipped routes were compared with similar roads without the technology.
Why it matters
Crash reductions on equipped routes reached up to 3.87, compared with 1.82 on matched routes, suggesting signal priority for maintenance vehicles can improve winter road safety for drivers statewide. The findings add evidence to a growing body of work on connected vehicle infrastructure.
The ploughs requested a green light on more than half of junction approaches, and more than 80% of those requests were granted by signals. Traffic on equipped routes moved closer to the speed limit than on other routes, though the study does not establish how much of the crash reduction each factor explains.
The players
Brigham Young University
A private research university in Provo, Utah, which studied the connected plough trial and published its findings.
US Federal Communications Commission
The US federal agency that regulates interstate communications and has turned its attention to cellular vehicle-to-everything technology.
The details
When a plough reached a junction, it could request a signal change in its favour, a technique also used for emergency vehicles. The field trial paired each of the five equipped corridors with a similar road without the technology and compared results across the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 snow seasons.
Timeline
- The field trial ran from October 2019 to March 2020.
- Crash data was compared across the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 snow seasons.
- Brigham Young University published its findings report in July 2022.
The Tech Race
The Utah trial adds field data to the FCC's growing focus on cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, which regulators are weighing as connected-vehicle systems move toward wider deployment. The signal-priority method used here is the same approach already applied to emergency vehicles.
For drivers on snowy Utah roads, the trial suggests that signal priority for ploughs can reduce collisions without changing how they drive. The benefits shown were measured on a limited set of corridors, so drivers should expect the technology to appear gradually rather than everywhere at once.
The takeaway
Connected infrastructure that gives snowploughs priority at signals is a practical winter-safety tool, and the Utah results point to fewer crashes on treated roads. Further testing will show whether the gains hold across other climates and traffic patterns.
Further reading
For more on the networks behind connected vehicles, see Telecommunications coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Times of India.
Live Poll
Would you feel safer driving on roads where snowplows can change traffic lights?
