About

About LightGuard Systems

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Our Mission

When you choose LightGuard Systems® as your pedestrian safety partner, you are joining forces with an industry leader with a proven track record of more than twenty-five years.

  • Purpose-Driven - We are purpose-driven by the pursuit of preventing injury and saving lives through technology and strive to improve pedestrian and cyclist walkability and safety in the communities we serve.
  • Innovative - We have deep application knowledge and exceptional technical competence. We helped craft and set the in-roadway (embedded) warning light system standards that are in use today by the United States Federal Highway Administration Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
  • Design - Our design team creates elegant, robust, and highly-effective safety solutions for a wide range of applications. A LightGuard Systems product offers customers superior performance—with great value.
  • Global - LightGuard Systems® has a global presence with thousands of systems installed in the USA and international sites.

Our Headquarters

We are located at 2292 Airport Boulevard, Santa Rosa, California, fifty miles north of San Francisco. This site houses most of our departments and has for over 20 years, including: operations, research, development, marketing, assembly, testing, documentation, inventory & shipping. We provide solutions for safer pedestrian crossings with our complete line of lighted crosswalk systems, LED signs, and pedestrian control equipment. Our products are ideal for schools, colleges/university campuses, parking garage complexes, shopping mall parking areas, and commercial facilities. Our products are 100% assembled in the USA and contain 90% USA content. LightGuard Systems®, Inc. is a privately held California corporation and was incorporated in 1994. Contact Us Here.

Headquarters — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems

We are located at 2292 Airport Boulevard, Santa Rosa, California, fifty miles north of San Francisco. LightGuard Systems®, Inc. is a privately held California corporation and was incorporated in 1994. Contact Us Here.

Testimonials

Read What Customers Are Saying About Our Pedestrian Safety Lighted Crosswalk System Installations


County of Sonoma Transportation & Public Works

Customer Testimonial — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems

City of Alamogordo, NM

“The LightGuard crosswalk systems are very effective at making a safer crosswalk for our pedestrians.”

— Dr. Cheri Jimeno, President, NMSU


City of Alamogordo, NM

“The lights up at NMSUA are doing great. During the day they are very noticeable and by night, wow! They have been very effective for slowing people down and letting them know someone is in the crosswalk. I would and will tell anyone who asks that I would endorse your system that it is very effective in what it was installed for.”

— Larry Garner, Street Superintendent, NMSU


City of Alamogordo, NM

“I was given a great opportunity to speak on behalf of the student’s perspective and opinion on the LightGuard Smart Crosswalk. I feel it has been one of the best contributors to this campus! It is very effective at warning drivers to slow down when they see the amber blinking lights, and it is an even greater benefit when students, faculty, and staff are crossing at night! Every busy school intersection should have one.”

— Sarah Aragon, NMSU Student


City of Hollister, CA

“LightGuard has proven to be the best product for the City and we will only accept these products in City streets. We currently have two installations and will be retrofitting a third with this product. The two installations are at Monterey and Fourth St. and a solar powered installation at Nash and Monterey. The third will be on Sunset Drive at the hospital entrance and will replace another company’s installation that has failed. This will insure that we will stock only one manufacturer’s replacement parts.”

— David Rubric P.E., P.L.S., Interim Engineering Manager/City Engineer


Dallas Love Field Airport, TX

“Since we installed the LightGuard Systems in-roadway warning lights and LED signs at  pedestrian crossings, we’ve seen an increase in motorist yielding and a positive effect in the overall safety of our travelers.”

— Jimmy Jackson, Electrical Supervisor, Dallas Love Field Airport


City of Sebastopol, CA

“Between 2006 and 2011, the City of Sebastopol installed a total of 13 IRWL LightGuard Systems at various uncontrolled intersections along State Highway 116 in Sebastopol as part of our “Street Smart Sebastopol” program. The program is aimed at improving “walkability” in our downtown areas and reducing the number of traffic and pedestrian crossing accidents downtown, where we have two state highways intersecting.


During construction of the most recent phase (9 intersections) the city received great support from the crew at LightGuard, when we had questions about proper installation and inspections of traffic calming solutions. The city has been highly pleased with the performance of the systems, most of which are now between 2-3 years old. Although there is no specific data to support claims of “safer” streets, city officials can report plenty of anecdotal evidence that these street crossing safety systems have improved the pedestrian experience on this busy highway which also happens to be our Main Street. The public response and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive. 


When the City of Sebastopol applied for the Caltrans Encroachment Permit to install the first of these crossing systems in 2004, they were “non-standard” facilities for state highways, and the City had to work through quite a long process with Caltrans to gain their approval. More recently, the City actually received a call from a Caltrans engineer asking us to share the contract specifications for the LightGuard equipment, so that they could use it in the design of an improvement the State was working on in Marin County.”

— Sue Kelly, City Engineer

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Media Mentions 

Since its inception LightGuard Systems has received national press recognition, awards, and notable coverage in the media for our industry achievements and lighted crosswalk installations.

ArtSpace artist Dave Rogers stands in the middle of his art design for Patchogue’s LightGuard Systems lighted crosswalk, the first on Long Island (Oct. 22, 2015)

Dave Rogers — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems
LightGuard — Santa Rosa, CA — Lightguard Systems

LightGuard ‘lights-up’ a crosswalk in East Hampton Village, NY

Product Promotions

Our History

How We Began

In 1991, Michael Harrison, LightGuard Systems President, began exploring the idea of an LED pedestrian warning system after a close friend was involved in a fatal accident at a crosswalk. After two years of initial research and development, he developed a beta system, and thus the first-ever lighted crosswalk system was born. The novel system that we call Smart Crosswalk™ consists of in-roadway warning lights (IRWL) with flashing amber light-emitting diodes encased in a durable housing designed to alert motorists of a pedestrian about to enter or inside of a crosswalk.

  • California Traffic Control Devices Committee (CTCDC)

    By the end of 1993, Michael Harrison presented this initial IRWL concept to the State of California through the CTCDC, a panel of transportation affiliated professionals that authorizes testing and evaluation of innovative technology and makes recommendations to the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).


    Subsequently, LightGuard received state and local approval for testing their initial IRWL system with an endorsement from the CTCDC for “innovative thinking.” The CTCDC mandated that the IRWL lights be “shielded from the view of the pedestrian,” thus limiting any “false sense of security” a pedestrian might feel from seeing the lights operate.

  • Phases of Development

    The IRWL system was designed, tested, and recommended for approval in that form. Phase One of operational testing and evaluation of the system began in Santa Rosa, California, in September 1994.


    The CTCDC continued its evaluation process through 1996 for Phase Two, with the approval of additional field study grants for six locations in four cities. Two of the towns, Ft. Bragg and Willits, obtained a rarely given Caltrans authorization to experiment on California State Route 1 and U.S. Highway 101.


    In September of 1996, the CTCDC voted 8-0 in favor of expanded testing and evaluation of the IRWL crosswalk warning system. Phase Three testing was completed in 1997 with CTCDC voting to recommend approval and adoption of the system, tested by Caltrans, as a standard traffic control device. (See: FHA “Authorization to Proceed” letter)


    The CTCDC based its recommendation partly on the compelling data compiled in the final report, Evaluation of an Experimental Crosswalk Warning System, April 1998. The report was a comprehensive evaluation of LightGuard’s IRWL system based on field studies conducted in the California cities of Fort Bragg, Petaluma, Lafayette, Santa Rosa, and Willits. 

  • Field Study Evaluations

    The field study evaluations were conducted with funding from various sources, including the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the University of North Carolina State Highway Safety Research Center, and the Center for Applied Research.


    Positive and compelling results from the expanded tests formed the basis for the CTCDC to formally recommend approval of the IRWL System as a standard traffic safety device in California. The evaluation results were forwarded to Caltrans with a directive to develop specifications, guidelines, and standards for the device.


    Caltrans responded in April of 1998 with the announcement: “In response to a recommendation of the California Traffic Control Devices Committee (CTCDC), Caltrans plans to adopt standards and specifications for pedestrian crosswalk lights pursuant to California Vehicle Code Section 21400.”

  • Permission to Experiment

    In June of 1998, Caltrans issued “Interim Guidelines for Experimental Crosswalk Pavement Lights,” allowing interested agencies in California the opportunity to install, with an abbreviated evaluation by the local traffic engineer, the IRWL pedestrian crosswalk warning light, now referred to as a Smart Crosswalk™ system.


    In 1997, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), upon submission of the application by the City of Santa Rosa, CA, approved the “Request to Experiment” on a national level. This unique federal designation is titled “FHWA#IV-138 (E) Pedestrian Crosswalk LED Warning Lights”.


    An update report followed and was released in April 1998 based on field studies in Orinda, CA, Petaluma, CA, and Kirkland, WA, funded by the FHWA’s Pedestrian Facilities Program under contract with the University of North Carolina Highway Research Center.


    This designation allowed LightGuard Systems to begin the process of data collection and evaluation nationwide for review and consideration for ultimate inclusion in the Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). This process has brought national recognition to the Smart Crosswalk™ in-roadway warning light (IRWL) lighted crosswalk system.

  • Adoption into the MUTCD

    In January of 1999, LightGuard Systems presented an overview of their Smart Crosswalk™ IRWL system along with our test site results, recommending amendments to the existing manual. Both the Federal MUTCD Marker and Signals Committees approved the recommendations.


    In June of 1999, at the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (NCUTCD), a motion was presented for a general vote and passed in favor of those recommendations. The recommended language based on factors learned through experimentation, reports, and studies were forwarded to FHWA for public comment inclusion into the Federal Register.


    The FHWA decided on the language and inclusion of IRWL technology in the Millennium Edition of the Federal MUTCD. As a result of Michael Harrison’s vision and years of persistence, LightGuard Systems® Smart Crosswalk™ in-roadway warning light (IRWL) system is a recognized traffic calming standard that no doubt saves lives and prevents injuries across the nation daily. (See: MUTCD Section 4N

  • Birth of the Lighted Crosswalk Category

    As the lighted crosswalk system category continued to grow, LightGuard Systems continued its product innovations with the invention of the Automatic Activation Bollard Sensor pedestrian detection system and flashing LED border-enhanced signs. LightGuard’s President Michael Harrison served on the NCMUTCD in Washington DC in 1999 and helped LED signs be included in the Millennial Edition of the MUTCD.

  • About Michael Harrison, LightGuard System's Founder, President, & CEO

    Mr. Harrison is a self-educated entrepreneur and inventor of the LightGuard System. He was Vice President and company pilot of a large residential building and development company, Z.A.M. Enterprises, Inc., for over six years flying turboprop twin-engine aircraft, performing land acquisition and development duties, and holds a California State Class "B" General Contractor License (currently inactive).


    Mr. Harrison is certified as an Airline Transport Pilot and Flight Instructor with over 6,000 flight hours. He established, owned, and operated federally regulated flight schools, F.A.A. approved air charter operations, and F.A.A. Certified Repair Station Facilities.


    Mr. Harrison holds Journeyman status in the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers Union and Operating Engineers Unions as an Assembly Mechanic working under Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards for Remco Hydraulics, a former California company assembling and testing "snubbing" devices for use at nuclear power plants across the nation guarding against potential catastrophic destruction caused by earthquakes. He has a College Certificate of Completion in Aviation and a minor in Marketing. Mr. Harrison is also a Vietnam Era Veteran in the United States Navy. He is an avid golfer, enjoys sailing, and plays electric and acoustic guitar for entertainment.

Privacy Policy 

Our Commitment To Privacy

Your privacy is important to us. To protect your privacy, LightGuard Systems®, Inc. provides this notice explaining its online information practices.

This site contains links to other sites, and LightGuard Systems® is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of those sites. We encourage our users when they leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information.

This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website and our Contact Us form.

  • The Information We Collect

    The types of personal information collected are:


    • Name
    • Business Name
    • Address
    • Email address
    • Phone number

    We use IP addresses, browser, and platform type, referring pages, and date/time stamp to analyze trends, administer the site, and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use.

  • How We Use Information

    LightGuard Systems®, Inc. collects information from our users at several different points on our website. Persons who supply us with their contact information may receive telephone or e-mail contacts from us regarding their pending orders or with information regarding new products and services or upcoming events. If you do not wish to receive either e-mail or telephone contact, please see the Choice/Opt-Out section below.


    The information we collect may be used by us to contact customers for marketing purposes. LightGuard Systems® will not sell, share, or rent this information to 3rd parties others.

  • Our Commitment To Data Security

    This site has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of information under our control. To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

  • Choice/Opt-Out

    If you have any questions about our privacy policy, contact us:


    LightGuard Systems

    2292 Airport Boulevard

    Santa Rosa, California 95403

    Phone 707-542-4547 · Fax 707-525-6333

Innovative Pedestrian Safety & Traffic Calming Solutions. Call LightGuard Systems at 707-542-4547 for a Free Quote!

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