Spotlight on SAGE.

SAGE Automation’s RJAWS Lite project has been named a finalist in the ITS Australia Smart Transport Infrastructure Award - recognition for a solution that is already changing outcomes on some of Australia’s most dangerous roads.

Two-thirds of fatal crashes occur on rural and remote roads. In regions like McLaren Vale in South Australia, the challenge is acute: locals become familiar with intersections, visitors are often unfamiliar with the roads, and a single misjudgement can have devastating consequences. Traditional treatments such as roundabouts are effective, but expensive, disruptive, and often impractical in low-volume rural settings.

RJAWS Lite - Rural Junction Active Warning System - was designed to solve this exact problem.

Real-Time Warnings to Drivers on High-Risk Rural Intersections

Developed by SAGE Automation in collaboration with the City of Onkaparinga, the Centre for Automotive Safety Research (CASR), and South Australia’s Department for Infrastructure and Transport, RJAWS Lite is a solar-powered, radar-based system that delivers real-time warnings to drivers at high-risk rural intersections.

Unlike conventional signs that activate constantly, RJAWS Lite is intelligent. It monitors vehicle behaviour and activates only when risk is elevated - such as when a side-road vehicle approaches at speed or when conflicting traffic is detected. This selective activation keeps alerts meaningful and prevents driver fatigue.

The system:

• Detects vehicles using radar

• Warns main-road drivers via LED signage

• Alerts side-road drivers if they fail to slow

• Operates entirely on solar power with battery backup

• Is remotely monitored through SAGE’s Smart City platform

• Requires no trenching or grid connection

The result is a low-cost, modular, rapidly deployable safety upgrade - ideal for rural and under-resourced locations.

The impact is already proven. At the initial Chalk Hill Road deployment, crashes dropped by 66% - from 2.57 per year to just 0.86. RJAWS Lite is now operating at five high-risk intersections across the region, making these roads safer for families, freight, and visitors.

What makes RJAWS Lite truly distinctive is the way it was built. CASR’s research shaped the system logic, identifying that many crashes stem from human error rather than visibility alone. That insight drove the selective-activation model - alerting drivers only when risk is genuinely elevated. The project has since produced a published CASR design guide, creating a nationally transferable blueprint for rural intersection safety.

The system is also inherently sustainable:

• Solar-powered and wireless

• No civil works required

• Minimal installation emissions

• Reusable and relocatable

• Reduced environmental and economic burden from crashes and emergency response

RJAWS Lite is part of a broader vision for zero harm on rural roads, with related systems already being adapted for un-signalled level crossings.

This ITS Award nomination recognises more than a product. It recognises a model of collaboration between industry, academia, and government - and a scalable, data- driven approach to solving one of Australia’s most persistent road safety challenges.

Smarter safety. Real results. Lives saved.

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