10 ways to reduce traffic fatalities

Other than imposing ridiculous speed limits

2006.07.07 Culture | News | by Derek Jensen

As part of the big Independence Day celebration, as for pretty much every holiday, state
and local police like to do a little fund raising. They put cops on the streets in force to
create as big a presence as possible, ostensibly to reduce speeding and drunk driving
on one of the busiest travel days of year. Yet, the fatality rate on US highwaysin 2003
was the lowest since record keeping began 32 years ago (1.48 per million miles
traveled; 42,643 deaths). Still, driving is the number one cause of death and injury for
people between the ages of 5 and 27
What would I prefer to be the number one cause of deaths for young people? Lightning
strikes.

If authorities really wanted to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities, studies show there are
ways of doing that don't happen to enhance revenues by writing a bunch of citations.

Low limits equal

high revenues.
[Tysto photo]

I've explained before how speeding really isn't a problem. The whole purpose of an
interstate highway system is to drive fast. When it was built in the 1950s, people drove
70-75 MPH, and nothing has really changed since then but the cars, which have
become vastly safer, thanks mainly to steel-belted radial tires, seat belts, crumple zones,
and air bags.

We drove 5-10 MPH slower in the mid-70s to mid-80s, when the 55 MPH national speed
limit was still new. It didn't really help save lives. And the repeal in 1995 didn't cost lives.

But if state and local governments really want to reduce road deaths, here is a list of 10 sensible ways to
reduce them, more or less in order of cost, starting with the least expensive.

1. Improve signage
Every motorist is trying to get somewhere, and many of them aren't sure how to get there. While interstate
signage is more or less uniformly good in that it is more or less uniform, rural highway and suburban
signage is often quite poor.
Foot-long street signs were fine for city streets where traffic moved at 25 MPH, but 35-45 MPH suburban
roads and 55 MPH country roads need bigger signs and more of them: one to announce the next street,
one to mark the street at the corner, and one to mark the street beside the traffic light, if there is one. In
areas where big trucks are common, extra signage is doubly necessary; trucks have gotten much bigger
in the last 20 years and obscure signs to an equally greater degree. This suggestion isn't likely to reduce
accidents by much, but it's so cheap it's worth doing anyway.

2. Raise speed limits on safe roads

This would be cheap and effective. By and large, major interstates are broad, well-maintained, smoothflowing, and well-marked. Raising the speed limit on these roads for cars in daytime and good weather,
would encourage motorists to leave dangerous back roads where they know they can drive fast because
of limited police patrols. Moving traffic from back roads to major highways was a factor in the decrease of
traffic accidents since the 1995 repeal of the national 55 MPH speed limit. Altho many states now
mandate lower speeds for trucks than for cars, only Texas makes the sensible leap to mandating lower
speeds for night driving than for day.

3. Get drunk drivers off the road

Similarly cheap and similarly effective, discouraging people from driving drunk or otherwise impaired is a
proven method of reducing traffic accidents (about half of motor vehicle accidents involve intoxicants). I
don't support roadblock checks for impaired driversthat's a case of surrendering too many liberties for
too little gainbut public awareness and messages targeted at bartenders are effective. Just a campaign

to ask people not to drive distractedeating, reading a map, talking on a cell phone, arguing with
passengerswould be helpful at little cost. Lower blood-alcohol limits are helping on this front; making
more people aware that even a little alcohol impairs their driving.
But don't lose sight of the fact that the main thing is to get really drunk drivers off the road, notslightly
tipsy ones.

4. Implement better roadway lighting

One major factor in motor accidents is poor visibility (half of all motor vehicle accidents are at night, even
tho the great majority of driving is done during the day), especially at intersections, where most accidents
occur. If more rural highway intersections were lit, accidents at those intersections would go down. Target
intersections with a history of accidents first for best effect and least cost.

5. Create more turn-only lanes

Every car that is stopped in the road to make a turn is an accident waiting to happen. An impaired or
inattentive driver colliding with a car preparing for a turn is a major percentage of traffic accidents. Turnonly lanes require little extra roadway but can reduce accidents significantly, especially at intersections
with poor visibility for oncoming traffic (around a curve or in a depression).

6. Improve driving conditions

Bad weather always causes a spike in traffic accidents and the cause often gets labeled as "driving too
fast for conditions." State transportation departments could greatly reduce accidents by improving
crumbling and pot-holed roads and clearing roads of debris, snow, and ice more efficiently (and closing
roads or mandating special low speed limits in especially bad conditions). Intersections where gravel has
accumulated are especially dangerous, since cars can easily slide into the intersection when trying to
stop.

7. Eliminate stops
Highways are for driving. Any feature that brings all traffic from 70 MPH to 0 MPH is a 10-car pileup
waiting to happen as well as a woefully inefficient use of roadway. Moving toll booths to exits is a good
start; eliminating them entirely and paying for roads with ordinary taxes is better (you could still make
long-haul trucks pull off to pay, as with weigh stations). Creating frontage roads can reduce or eliminate
stop lights; so can funneling traffic from two or three crossroads into a single new overpass. On urban and
suburban roads, creating better crosswalks with warning lights that pedestrians can activate can reduce
pedestrian traffic accidents significantly.

8. Create more divided highways

Any road in which a median separates oncoming lanes of traffic is far safer than ordinary roads. It creates
a barrier or buffer that goes a long way toward keeping inattentive and impaired drivers from drifting
across the center line and creating a head-on collision, which is nearly always fatal.
They don't have to be four-lane behemoths with clover-leaf junctions; just extra space between lanes with
a rumble strip would reduce drifting across lanes and still allow for passing on two-lane rural highways
(head-on collisions are almost never the result of passing maneuvers). Altho still a new idea, more than a
dozen states have begun to use centerline rumble strips, especially Pennsylvania, and report substantial
reductions in crossover accidents.

9. Redesign bad intersections

If a crosswalk or lighting doesn't do the trick, a troublesome intersection may simply be designed badly.
Paring back vegetation and signage, changing the angle at which the roads meet, or creating a jug handle
or overpass are all options that can change the dynamics of traffic at that intersection and save lives. Just
slapping a stoplight in there is not the right way to "fix" it.

10. Redesign bad roads

The US highway system was designed from scratch in the 1950s, and many highways have not changed
much since then despite cases of urban sprawl. Traffic engineers have known for decades that left-hand
exits create trouble, for example, and should be redesigned whenever there is an opportunity and when
traffic snarls and accidents make it urgent. Just designating a highway as a limited-access highway can
reduce suburban sprawl around them and avoid the installation of stop lights.
Of course, all of these things cost moneyaltho some are very cheapwhile writing speeding citations
actually earns money. It's too bad that writing speeding citations doesn't actually save many lives.
These aren't the only ideas that could save lives. But the ideas I've presented here are ones that can be
implemented by state and local governments. Improvements to vehicle safety, such as side-impact
airbags, would also help, but are hard to mandate. Teaching young people to drive earlier using go-karts
would also help by enabling them to better understand the limits of traction and the need for attention to
the road. And vehicle safety inspections, altho hard to implement, would help to reduce dangerous
highway breakdowns.

Road Safety - How to Prevent Accidents

It is better to be safe than to be sorry.

Prevent accidents by taking all the
precautions you can.
1. As they say speed thrills and also
kills. Keep a rein on your speed, so that one is
in better control of the vehicle. Find out what
causes you to speed up? Is there an urge to speed
when you have a driver close behind? Or, is it an
effort to keep up with the traffic flow. Or, do you
simply enjoy over-taking? It is especially important
to lower speed while nearing schools, on narrow
roads, hilly areas, rural areas and when visibility is
poor. Wet roads and speed is a perfect recipe for an

accident.
2. Obey traffic rules. Traffic rules have been
designed with safety foremost in mind. It takes into
account safety for all, including pedestrians. Follow
the lane, and keep the required distance between
vehicles. It is important to display appropriate
indications/signals especially while changing lanes
or before a turn. Respect for other drivers on the
road is sacrosanct to road safety.
3. Wear seat belts. Seat belts are life saving. A
statistic has revealed that 63% of those who died in
accidents had not strapped on their seat belts.
According to the National Highway Transportation
Safety Administration (NHTSA), lap-shoulder belt
systems cut the risk of serious injury and fatality by
50 percent. Seat belts help in protecting the
internal organs in a crash as it restrains the forward
movement of the body to a great extent. It protects
against head and neck injuries by minimizing head
contacts and keeps the passenger in place.
4. Pedestrians and children come first

Preference is to be given to pedestrians and

children crossing the road.
5. Read caution signs: Caution signs are very
important as they warn about accident prone spots
so that the driver can reduce the speed of the
vehicle. Signboards on the road are vital clues
about road design so that the person behind the
wheel can exercise caution.
6. Adopt antiskid break systems in the cars,
so that the risk of cars skidding can be reduced.
7. Air bags in vehicles are a must to cushion the
impact in case of accidents.
8. Reflectors to be used on the rear of the vehicle.
Ensure all lamps are in working condition. Hazard
lamp should be switched on when the vehicle is
parked on a highway,
9. Vehicle must be in good working conditionthere should be no compromise on the quality of
brakes and tyres. Further, it is imperative to inflate

tyres with the right air pressure to avoid tyre bursts

on road.
10. Roads should be in good condition with
proper sign boards. It is vital to install reflectors on
roads so that deviations and medians are clearly
visible to drivers.
11. Avoid drugs and alcohol while driving.
Drugs and alcohol can slow down reflexes, disrupt
accurate judgments, and cause mental alertness to
dip. They have been the reason behind many fatal
road accidents.
12. Falling asleep behind the wheel has led to
many grave mishaps on the road. Drivers must rest
well as the lack of it can have an adverse effect on
mental alertness, slow down reflexes, and even
cause momentary sleepiness behind the wheel.
What follows is a disaster.
The Road Ahead
Road safety is a collective effort of the

government and people. While the

government administration must leave no
stone unturned in ensuring proper
condition of the roads and enforcing strict
adherence to traffic rules, responsible
driving and the right attitude of people
with respect to traffic rules is perhaps the
first step on the long road to 100% safety
on the roads.

Traffic accidents and fatalities increase

every year. Can anything be done to reduce
them? There are several steps a city can
take to reduce the number of traffic
accidents, but they all center around one
thing--forcing motorists to drive slower,
safer and be more attentive.

nstructions
1. Make the streets narrower, reducing lanes
from twelve feet wide to ten. This seems like it

would make things wore, but the opposite is

true. Having less lane room will force drivers to
be more focused.
2. Avoid adding wider turn lanes, especially ones
that allow drivers to make right turns away
from the stoplight. The easier traffic can make
turns, the less attentive drivers are, and the
more likely they are to cause accidents.
3. Allow cars to park at the curb. A row of parked
cars along the edge will make people drive city
streets as cautiously as neighborhood roads. It
will also make sidewalks safer for pedestrians
by creating a buffer.
4. Design unconventional intersections. The
standard four-way crossroads designed by the
D.O.T. have the most number of traffic
accidents. A three-way intersection or
terminated vista will cause drivers to slow
down and pay more attention.
5. Put speed bumps along intersections. Drivers
will be forced to reduce speed rather than

speed up to beat a changing stoplight.

Speeding through intersections and running red
lights are among the biggest cause of traffic
accidents.
6. Consider removing traffic lights altogether.
Many feel the lights cause more accidents my
making drivers watch the lights instead of the
streets while giving them a feeling of "right of
way." Removing the lights would force them to
pay attention and yield every time.
Causes of collisions

Every day, drivers die in road collisions.

Many die as a consequence of inexperience, speeding
intoxication through drink or drugs or just plain
recklessness.

Causes of collisions

The majority of road crashes are caused by human

error. Research has shown that driver error accounts
for over 80% of all fatal and injury crashes on Irish
roads

The main causes of death and injury on Irish roads

remain speeding, drink driving and non-wearing of
seat-belts .
Because most traffic accidents are the product of
several factors, the probability of accidents can be
reduced in a number of different ways. There is no
doubt that the following activities have prevented the
increase in accidents that would normally result from
increases in traffic density. There are three main
approaches to preventing accidents:
1.Education and training of (a) children in school by
road-traffic instructors and school teachers; and of
(b) adolescents in the principles of safe driving and
in good driving attitudes; by (c) refresher courses
for older drivers to bring home safe-driving
principles and to refresh their knowledge of traffic
law; and by means of (d) newspaper, radio
television, and other publicity, to draw the attention
of all road users both to dangers and to safe
practices on the road.
2.Enforcement by (a) adopting reasonable and
enforceable traffic laws which, at the same time,
are best designed to prevent accidents; (b)
concentrating the time and energy of traffic officers
on the offences, locations, and times that feature
frequently in accidents; and (c) thoroughly testing
new drivers to ensure they will not be liable to
cause accidents.

3.Engineering of vehicles and roads: Vehicle

engineering, comprising (a) regular inspection for a
warrant of fitness to ensure that the main
components of the vehicle are safe; (b) improving
the design of the vehicle to give ease of vision and
control to the driver and so reduce the likelihood of
injury in an accident; (c) fitting safety equipment,
such as seat belts.
Road or traffic engineering comprises (a) the design of
new roads which are inherently safe (separating
opposing traffic flows, eliminating cross traffic, and
providing wide shoulders and traffic lanes and good
visibility); (b) Improving existing roads by realignment,
improving vision, and resurfacing slippery surfaces; (c)
Regulating traffic movement by installing traffic signals,
traffic islands, road markings, and regulatory signs such
as stop and give way signs; and (d) assisting the
driver with warning and destination signs to avoid
danger and confusion.
Below you will find more information on one of the
general causes of accidents on our roads.
Tyre Safety
Bad driving habits and road safety

There are number of things that other drivers do that

can be extremely irritating and danagerous. Bad
Tailgating, poor lane discipline, not indicating and
undertaking are just a few of the bad habits that

frequently and are very annoying. Aside from the

inconvenience to other road users, this kind of
inconsiderate driving is also very dangerous.
Tailgating This is probably one of the greatest
offences . Some drivers are extremely impatient ,
some people do it without thinking, just following traffic
they get a bit close, but then they back off as you
accelerate way.
Some drivers tailgate deliberately though and these are
the ones that are the most dangerous. They sit behind
you flashing their headlights in an effort to move you,
but of course there is nowhere to go as you are in the
process of overtaking and there is no room to pull in on
the left. To this kind of driver, the two second rule
means that they can just about cope with another
vehicle in front of them before they decide to intimidate
them by driving inches away.

Undertaking Tailgaters that dont get their way will

often resort to undertaking if they can. Yes, there are
also those selfish individuals out there that hog the
middle and the outside lane. They have no idea that
there is a queue of traffic waiting to get past them,
probably because they are in their own little world
thinking about what to have for dinner. This causes
some individuals to loose patience and undertake.

Poor lane discipline Some drivers are all over the

place and they dont seem to realise that they are
supposed to stay in between those white dashed lines.
Indicators Some people have no idea what these
pretty orange flashing lights are actually for! They
move here and there and go wherever they please

without any thought of letting the rest of the road users

know what their intentions are.
These are just a few of the things that can be
particularly irritating about other drivers and their
habits. Below are some other annoyances ;
Cutting corners, particularly at junctions .
No headlights in conditions that require them .
Throwing cigarettes out the window.
Leaving main beam on, or dipping only at the last
minute.
Inappropriate use of the horn.
Impatient people Pushing in ahead of a queue of
traffic.
Light up
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Speed

SPEED is the single biggest factor contributing to road

deaths in Ireland. Over 40% of fatal collisions are
caused by excessive or inappropriate speed.

A 5km/h difference in speed could be the difference

between life and death for a vulnerable road user like a
pedestrian.
Hit by a car at 60km/h, 9 out of 10 pedestrians will
be killed
Hit by a car at 50km/h, 5 out of 10 pedestrians will
be killed
Hit by a car at 30km/h, 1 out of 10 pedestrians will
be killed
Speed has been identified as a key risk factor in road
traffic injuries, influencing both the risk of a road crash
as well as the severity of the injuries that result from
crashes.
Excess speed is defined as exceeding the speed limit.
Inappropriate speed is defined as driving at a speed
unsuitable for the prevailing road and traffic conditions.
Excess and inappropriate speed are responsible for a
high proportion of the mortality and morbidity that
result from road crashes.
Controlling vehicle speed can prevent crashes
happening and can reduce the impact when they do

occur,lessening the severity of the of injuries sustained

by the victims.

Dropping off 3 storeys is equivalent

to crashing at 50km/h

Dropping off 12 storeys is equivalent

to crashing at 100km/h
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS SAFE SPEEDING

Think about this:

Choose your speed and you choose your

consequences.
In a 60 km/h zone, travelling at:
65 km/h, you are twice as likely to have a serious
crash
70 km/h, you are four times as likely to have a
serious crash
75 km/h, you are 10 times as likely to have a
serious crash

 80 km/h, you are 32 times as likely to have a

serious crash than if you drive at 60 km/h.
In rural out of town areas, travelling just 10 km/h
faster than the average speed of other traffic, you
are twice as likely to have a serious crash.
Stopping distance in Wet conditions

Stopping Distance in dry conditions

Images provided by Holroyd City Council Austrialia.

Driving in Fog

Driving in Fog
Fog can be thought of as a cloud at ground level. It
forms when the temperature drops to the dew point
(the temperature at which air is saturated), and
invisible water vapor in the air condenses to form
suspended water droplets. Fog can reduce visibility to
1/4 mile or less, creating hazardous driving conditions.
If you can't postpone your trip until dense fog lifts -usually by late morning or the afternoon -- follow these
tips:
Drive with lights on low beam. High beams will only
be reflected back off the fog and actually impair
visibility even more.
Reduce your speed -- and watch your speedometer.
Fog creates a visual illusion of slow motion when
you may actually be speeding.
Listen for traffic you cannot see. Open your window
a little, to hear better.
Use wipers and defrosters as necessary for
maximum visibility.
Use the left edge of the road or painted road
markings as a guide.
Be patient. Do not pass lines of traffic.

 Do not stop on a motorway or heavily traveled

road.
Fog lamps may be used only in dense fog. In
clear weather conditions they are liable to cause
glare or dazzle and must be turned off.
7.