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.

Was it Really an Accident?

Accident or Crash?   Cars collide every day. Vehicles are damaged, sometimes people are hurt, and tragically, lives are lost. But are they crashes or accidents? A growing movement seeks to reframe car accidents as crashes, and with good reason. According to the NHTSA, 94% of car crashes are caused by driver error. Those aren’t accidents. Calling them accidents takes the blame away from drivers, instead of encouraging them to take responsibility and change the way they drive. It's the Law Advocates around the world are seeking to change the mentality that crashes just happen. Drivers need to learn that they are at fault, that safe roads start with them. In some places, it’s becoming the law to call crashes what they are. In Nevada, the word accident was changed to crash in dozens of state laws, while NYC policies state that we must “no longer regard traffic crashes as mere accidents.” More than 28 state DOTs have followed suit. Safer Roads What about just creating safer roads? Install some speed humps, put speed display signs in, won’t that stop crashes from happening? The truth is that cities do have to do their part to create safer streets. Engineering roads that are safer for all users is an important aspect of keeping drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians safe. But ultimately, the key component of safer streets is the driver behind the wheel. Even a slight distraction away from the road puts everyone in danger. Distractions With an endless array of apps, music streaming, and messages beckoning today’s drivers, it should be no surprise that fatality rates are on the rise. Every distraction, digital or otherwise, affects driver’s perception response time (PRT). Anytime a driver encounters something unexpected, she must detect the object, decide whether it’s a hazard, choose how to respond, and then act. Driving is a complex activity that requires complete attention. Almost all crashes can be avoided. But drivers need to try.

ATSSA Traffic Expo

The expo that traffic safety professionals from around the world await all year is finally here. This year’s annual ATSSA Traffic Expo is taking place from February 10-14 at the Phoenix Convention Center in sunny Phoenix, AZ.

With thousands of roadway safety professionals to network with, hundreds of companies exhibiting innovative solutions and services, and cutting edge education sessions, this is the premier event for traffic safety.

Traffic Logix will be exhibiting in booth 1142 and will be showcasing our innovative ITS solutions used around the world to improve safety and prevent accidents on neighborhood roads. 

Check out our complete line-up of radar speed signs, find out about the Logix Cloud that lets you program signs and download data wherever you are, and check out our recycled rubber speed humps and cushions.Whatever you need to create safer roads, we’re here to help you. 

Want to find out more about why thousands of cities choose Traffic Logix ITS solutions?

Find out more at www.trafficlogix.com.

Fresh Starts, Big Dreams, Safer Streets

TC Fresh Starts, Big Dreams, Safer Streets  New Year’s Resolutions It’s that time of year again. People make noble promises to improve their lives and the lives of those around them. Whether it’s to choose the bike over the car, to eat better, or to create safer streets as part of the lofty goal of saving lives, any resolution worth making is worth accomplishing. So why do 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail each year? Eight Miles a Day The most common mistake with resolutions is that resolve isn’t quite enough. No matter how strong your resolve to jog 8 miles a day despite your sedentary lifestyle, chances are it isn’t going to happen. And there’s a good reason for that. One of the most common reasons people fail at New Year’s resolutions is that they are overly ambitious when they feel inspired, and then overwhelmed when inspiration passes. Dream Big, Start Small The most effective way to create real, ongoing change is with small, incremental change. Small changes are less exciting, but they’re a lot more approachable. Resolve to make every street in your city safer or stop every driver from speeding and chances are slim that you’ll get anywhere. Add radar signs to alert speeding drivers on streets with the top 5 speeding concerns, and you’re already on the way to a safer 2017. What's Small for You? Every person and every city has a different starting point as the New Year begins. A city with no traffic calming program in place and one with a citywide infrastructure have different steps to take to work toward big change. Whatever your big dreams, you only know how effective they are once you take small steps to get there. Whether starting with a small education initiative or installing speed humps in front of every school in the city, you need to know what’s small for you to get somewhere big.

Safer School Zones No Matter The Cost

When cars are speeding in local school zones, radar speedsigns are a natural response. But what about when there’s no room in the budget for them?

The city of Toronto has four SafePace radar signs mounted on trailers and rotated weekly throughout the city. Midtown residents want more. They want the signs installed on streets around two local schools in the neighborhood to stop cars from speeding and ensure kids can get to and from school safely. And they’re willing to pay for them.

Councilor Christin Carmichael Greb said she’s received numerous calls from school councils, resident associations, and even individuals willing to help foot the bill for the SafePace speed signs.

The city is considering whether they can accept public donations to fund the speed display signs, which have been effective on other city streets in slowing cars down. While the signs would be purchased with private funds, they would still be managed by the city who would rotate them on streets around the schools.

The president of a local community association thinks fundraisers should be held for radar signs and other safety solutions in every ward in the city. For more impoverished wards, he proposed raising funds from other parts of the city.

Read the full story here.

Paying the Price

The Cost of Crashes Traffic calming isn’t cheap. Even when choosing competitively priced solutions, slowing cars down can still get expensive. Is it really worth the price? While the cost of life is immeasurable, the economic cost is exorbitant. A study conducted by the NHTSA estimated the annual cost of car crashes at $242 billion. When quality of life was added in, the societal cost in one year rose to a whopping $836 billion. Speed Kills The American Journal of Public Health stated it simply: managing speed is simply the best prevention against accidents and the injuries and fatalities they cause. The NHTSA found that speeding contributes to a third of all fatal crashes. Barring constant round-the-clock police patrol, traffic calming is the only way to ensure that speeds are reduced and lives are saved. Does Traffic Calming Really Help? Children who live in neighborhoods with speed humpshave a 53-60% less chance of being injured or killed in a car accident. A case study on radar signs found that up to 70% of drivers slowed down when their speeds were displayed. Slower cars mean saved lives- studiesshow that a vehicle hitting a pedestrian at 40 mph is 80% likely to cause death while one travelling at 20mph is only 5% likely to. Return on Investment It can be hard to think of something as an investment when there are no dividends visible on a monthly statement. But traffic calming saves lives every day. One pilot program using Traffic Logix SafePace signsin Ecaudor found that 200 lives were saved in a one-year period after solutions were installed. The economic and societal cost of crashes is one that every town, city, and state contends with. Saving those lives is a sound investment.

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.