Education Before Enforcement

Education Before Enforcement Deterring Speeders There’s a common misconception that speed laws and police officers are out to get drivers, conspiring to slap them with tickets they don’t deserve. In fact, speed laws are enacted to keep people safe and are carefully calculated taking each street’s environment in mind. Police officers far prefer that drivers obey laws and drive safely than ticket them for speeding. For that reason, speed trailers and display signs are rapidly growing as a tool for police departments to educate drivers and remind them to slow down.   Why Bother Educating? Effective traffic calming, that is slowing of vehicles to safe speeds, almost always involves the three Es- Education, Engineering, and Enforcing. Simply ticketing drivers may be revenue-producing but that’s not the end goal of police departments. Educating drivers is the first, and most important, step to safer roads. Billboards and educational campaigns are effective ways to educate while speed trailers have the advantage of catching drivers in the moment as well as the ability to personalize messages to each driver. How Speed Trailers Educate Speed display signs provide a multi-pronged approach to driver education. They are mounted along with speed limit signs so that drivers see a comparison of the posted speed limit and their own speeds. Speeds are displayed highly visible LED digits so that drivers are aware of what their speeds are. Both the digits and the sign strobes can flash at drivers who exceed set speeds to alert them that they are speeding. Many signs also offer the option to display driver responsive messaging such as “Slow Down” or “Too Fast”. Is Education Enough? For most drivers, the reminder that they need to slow down is sufficient to change behaviors and encourage safer speeds. In fact, studies have shown that most drivers, as many as 70%, do slow down at radar signs. However, a well-rounded, effective traffic calming program should also take Engineering and Enforcement into account. Engineering can be done with street narrowing or physical devices such as speed humps or lane separators while enforcement is something every city has its own approach to.

Product Spotlight - SafePace 550

Hey, What's the Speed Limit Around Here? On roads where speed limits change, it can be hard for drivers to remember, or keep track of different speed limits. Whether entering a school zone, an area where construction is taking place, or just moving from business to residential streets, drivers encounter shifting speed limits every day. Do they notice? No matter how prominently a speed limit sign is displayed, drivers may not notice changed limits, inadvertently putting children, workers, and pedestrians at risk. How Are Speed Limits Decided? The most obvious and most decisive aspect in deciding speed limits is safety. There is a simple statistical relationship between speed of vehicles and severity of crashes. In areas where pedestrians are more likely to be present, such as students walking to school, construction workers repaving a roadway, or children riding bikes outside their homes, lower speed limits can mean the difference between life and death. In addition, the speed of vehicles has been shown to be directly impacted by speed limits. Making Sure People Notice If speed limits are so crucial to driver and pedestrian safety, how can cities make sure they are more prominent so that drivers are more likely to notice them? Today’s distracted, electronically stimulateddrivers may not notice a changed speed limit sign on the side of the road. However, variable speed limit signs such as the SafePace 550 display speed limits in brightly lit LEDs, which are far more visually stimulating than simple black on white numbers.    What if They Miss it?  The digits on the SafePace 550 sign flash at drivers who exceed the selected speed limit. An included strobe light offers additional warning to speeders that the speed limit has changed. Signs can be programmed to display speed limits based on time of day, week, or month so that drivers always know exactly what the speed limit is. Simple to program and manage from anywhere via the SafePace Cloud, the SafePace 550 ensures that drivers are sure to notice and observespeed limits on your roads.

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas

December Celebrations Whether you celebrate Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah, or just Life, December is a busy, happy, joy-filled season. For traffic engineers and police professionals across the world, it’s a critical responsibility to ensure it stays that way. The perils of the road all year long are exacerbated during these hectic weeks. Tensions are high as everyone rushes to get everything done on time and no one wants joy to turn into tragedy.  Holiday Hazards People are rushing to do gift shopping, celebrate with friends, and plan upcoming festivities. While the increasing popularity of online shopping may have decreased traffic to stores, it’s also increased the number of delivery trucks on local roads. In addition, many children have time off of school, increasing the number of pedestrians on streets. As distracted driving has become a rampant issue in recent years, it’s an additional factor to consider on holiday-clogged roads. What Can You Do? Promoting safe driving on holiday roads should ideally start long before the holidays. Having a traffic calming program in place with driver feedback sign, speed humps, and bike lanes where you need them can ensure that your roads are well equipped for the holiday rush. Even with well engineered streets though, the perils of holiday driving can still be a concern. Educational campaigns can be a great way to offset existing traffic calming by reminding drivers of the importance of driving sober, focused, and within speed limits. What's being done? When it comes to educating drivers and pedestrians about street safety during the holidays, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Many resources exist to help you along the way. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has a free app called SaferRide that helps impaired drivers get a taxi or call a friend with one click. In Seattle, a holiday pedestrian safety campaign has a wide array of ads and posters to encourage both drivers and pedestrians to exercise extra caution during the holidays while an air force base in Florida has an annual holiday traffic safety campaign Traffic Safety Marketing, a division of NHTSA, also has powerful marketing materials available to help you protect road users during the holidays.