Patent ID: 8228210

Claim:
An alert system for generating, in the vicinity of a crossing, a wide-area image which is indicative of an actual or impending safety problem, comprising: a) at least one safety indication component for indicating a state of an actual or impending safety problem; b) at least one wide-area image generating device mounted in the vicinity of a crossing for generating a corresponding vertically appearing wide-area image that appears at an injury preventable distance from said crossing; c) fog generating apparatus mounted in the vicinity of said crossing for discharging vaporized fluid by which light of said corresponding generated wide-area image is refracted or reflected, whereby each of said generated wide-area images is visible during daytime light; and d) a controller in communication with said at least one safety indication component for synchronizing operation of said at least one wide-area image generating device and said fog generating apparatus in response to a safety indication provided by said component, whereby at least one daytime visible wide-area image is generated at said injury preventable distance from said crossing so as to assist a viewer to respond in anticipation of said actual or impending safety problem.