sitive way.
You may also consider launching a Neighborhood Speed Watch in response to residential speeding complaints. In place in a number of cities, these programs typically train residents of neighborhoods to operate speed-monitoring equipment. Two volunteers will work together, one operating the device, the other logging the vehicle license plate and description. That information is turned in to the police department, and the department then sends a letter to the registered owner of the vehicle encouraging them to observe speed limits in residential areas.
Ideally, drivers would voluntarily comply with posted speed limits and adjust their speed according to traffic and weather conditions. But public opinion surveys show that motorists do not consider speeding either a serious offense or a significant problem. There is little general understanding that speed increases both the likelihood of a crash and the seriousness of that crash.
Public education should have a goal of persuading drivers to maintain safe speeds at all times, not just when they perceive the risk of a citation.
Research has found that many drivers do not understand the relationship between higher speeds and longer stopping distances. They may believe that their experience behind the wheel, combined with safer vehicles and more forgiving roadways, will protect them. But police can raise awareness of the involvement of speed in crashes and the effects of additional energy from higher speed impacts on injury. And police can help the public understand that speed enforcement is about safety, not revenue collection, as some believe.
If you are meeting regularly with your jurisdiction's traffic engineer, you know that we have a common goal of moving traffic expeditiously and safely. Sharing information on problems and solutions with those responsible for roadway design and the determination of speed limits is the third component of a successful speed management program.
Traffic calming is a term used in the engineering community to describe a number of design modifications that can reduce average speeds in a limited area. These can include roadway markings that serve to make the street appear narrower or to supplement roadside speed limit signs with that information painted on the roadway. For instance, road humps-wider and not as abrupt as speed bumps-work for some residential streets.
Studies have found that a one-mile-per-hour decrease in the average speed on a given stretch of roadway results in a crash rate reduction of about five percent. Making carefully planned speed management part of our safety belt and DWI programs can have a significant impact on crash death and injury rates. ■