The Brief

PHOENIX - The Arizona Department of Transportation's dust detection system, a pilot program unlike any other in the country, faced one of its first real tests during a powerful monsoon storm on Monday, Aug. 25.

The backstory:

Installed five years ago, the system is designed to prevent catastrophic crashes during dust storms when visibility can suddenly vanish.

"The visibility can drop to almost zero instantly," said Garin Groff, a public information officer for ADOT. "I mean, it can go from day to night before you know it and you can't see anything."

That danger is why ADOT implemented the program on a stretch of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson.

"There had been a history of crashes that occurred during dust storms," Groff said. "This area is especially prone

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