nutcd32 // Shutterstock
Rumble Strips, Protected Bike Lanes, and seven Different Efforts to Make Roads Safer
Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic could already be within the rearview mirror for some, its legacy on America’s roadways continues to be acutely felt in the present day.
In accordance with the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, the nationwide public well being emergency modified driving patterns drastically, with “drivers who remained on the roads engaged in additional dangerous conduct, together with dashing, failing to put on seat belts, and driving underneath the affect.” The development finally led to a record-high variety of greater than 43,000 fatalities in 2021, a dramatic 10.8% improve from the earlier yr.
Whereas 2023’s practically 41,000 street fatalities signify a modest lower from 2021’s excessive, that determine stays stubbornly larger than pre-pandemic ranges.
For essentially the most half, behaviors corresponding to distracted driving and the aforementioned dangerous behaviors proceed to be the principle drivers of fatalities, in response to TRIP, a nationwide nonprofit transportation analysis group. Whereas most of those causes appear preventable, the previous looms as essentially the most unintentionally lethal driver conduct. That’s as a result of distracted driving isn’t simply cellphone utilization and texting, however lower-effort behaviors that drivers may not understand depend as threat elements, together with “consuming, speaking to passengers, adjusting the radio/local weather controls, or adjusting different car controls.”
To determine 9 confirmed measures being adopted to enhance American street security—and counteract such threat elements—The Common consulted a Federal Freeway Administration report and different sources to focus on security countermeasures that supply measurable impacts.
Some, corresponding to the appliance of rumble strips, are extremely easy and supply a 44% discount in crashes between two automobiles getting into reverse instructions, head-on collisions, and sideswipe accidents. Others, corresponding to roundabouts, may require a bigger funding however promise a jaw-dropping 82% discount in crashes.
Learn on to be taught extra concerning the countermeasures that may confidently result in a discount in each deadly and noninjury crashes. Who is aware of? They might save your life sometime.
QUICKLY FILE YOUR SR-22
Study how one can get again on the street after a driving offense with a free SR22 insurance coverage quote.
sandsun // Shutterstock
Automated Velocity Enforcement Cameras
Velocity security cameras are an efficient solution to implement pace limits with out the necessity for around-the-clock police patrols. Typically put in round high-traffic areas, pace security cameras use laser and radar know-how to measure a car’s pace and seize photographic or video proof of automobiles going over the set restrict. These cameras may be applied in some ways, from one mounted digital camera focusing on a selected location to a number of cameras that calculate a car’s common pace over a sure distance. The know-how is efficient, with mounted items resulting in as much as a 54% discount in crashes on main city roads.
froghugger // Shutterstock
Rumble Strips
Newer automotive fashions lately are geared up with “lane departure warning programs” that sound an alarm when vehicles steer away from their lanes. Rumble strips work equally; the raised and textured strips of pavement alert drivers by means of tactile and auditory suggestions that they’ve left their lanes. Regardless of the rumble strip’s low-tech composition, the bodily factor of the raised street patterns signifies that drivers can solely “flip them off” by correcting their lane positioning. The end result? A 44 to 64% discount in head-on, wrong way, and sideswipe crashes.
Kenneth Sponsler // Shutterstock
Median Boundaries
There’s not numerous room for error in slim, high-speed roads. That’s the place median limitations are available in. Designed as both cable, concrete, or beam guardrails, limitations scale back the severity of cross-lane accidents, typically stopping full, head-on collisions. When applied on rural four-lane highways, these limitations resulted in a 97% discount in cross-media crashes. Moreover, they provide a degree of psychological assist for drivers who’re intimidated by such quick streets.
Ted Alexander Somerville // Shutterstock
Roundabouts
Roundabouts are one of the crucial efficient measures for decreasing automotive crashes, boasting an 82% discount in extreme crashes. Carried out as substitutes for conventional intersections and indicators, roundabouts work by organically “transitioning site visitors from high-speed to low-speed environments.” Along with working with out the necessity for police, yearly upkeep, or site visitors indicators, roundabout islands additionally lead to safer roads for pedestrians and bicyclists, in addition to newbie or aged drivers. That’s a win-win-win in alternate for a smaller intersection.
Xackery Irving // Shutterstock
Pedestrian Crossing Head-Begin
It’s frequent for pedestrians crossing high-volume intersections to really feel a slight sense of trepidation and doubt earlier than crossing intersections. Pedestrian head-start indicators straight handle the ability imbalance between car and pedestrians. Providing the latter a three- to seven-second head begin to start crossing earlier than vehicles see a inexperienced gentle, these indicators permit pedestrians to ascertain themselves within the crosswalk and assert their right-of-way. This extra time has decreased pedestrian crashes by 13%.
FIND AFFORDABLE CAR INSURANCE
Get a hassle-free on-line quote to search out the low cost automotive insurance coverage you want without charge in simply two minutes.
ALEXANDER V EVSTAFYEV // Shutterstock
Pedestrian Crossing Islands/Medians
Within the absence of site visitors indicators, pedestrians are saddled with many microfactors they need to consider earlier than crossing the road. Pedestrian crossing islands and medians, often known as refuge islands, supply individuals the chance to cross one course of site visitors at a time and safely wait on an “island” earlier than ending crossing the street. It’s essential, nonetheless, to notice that islands aren’t essentially efficient on high-speed, multilane roads, the place different security measures corresponding to indicators and a discount in lanes may lead to extra quick change.
quiggyt4 // Shutterstock
Protected Bike Lanes
Bikers who share the street with drivers don’t typically see that favor returned. Protected bike lanes, or lanes which can be separated and guarded through posts or different bodily limitations, supply cyclists a solution to pedal in peace, with out the concern of encroaching automobiles. However that’s not all: One research from the College of Colorado Denver of 13 years of information from a number of American cities discovered that bike lanes act as “calming mechanisms on site visitors, slowing vehicles and decreasing fatalities.” Most prominently, deadly crash charges dropped by 61% in Seattle and 49% in San Francisco. What’s extra, protected bike lanes lead to extra bikers on the road, a boon for local weather activists and longer lifespans alike.
ABCDstock // Shutterstock
Curved Roadside Enhancements
The truth of curved roads makes them dangerous: They contain sharp angles, scale back visibility, and might act in your car’s pace and motion in surprising methods. However improved roadside designs—starting from widened shoulders to clear zones —can remarkably enhance a driver’s capacity to get well after by accident leaving the roadway.
Identical to rumble strips, enhancements corresponding to flatter slopes and shoulders transition drivers from clean pavement to rougher terrain, signaling imminent hazard whereas giving them house to course-correct. Boundaries may not essentially give drivers the possibility to bounce again, however they do stop much more severe accidents, corresponding to head-on collisions.
GREAT ONLINE CAR INSURANCE
With low charges, low down funds and versatile cost choices, this is likely one of the finest methods to get automotive insurance coverage on-line.
Tong_stocker // Shutterstock
Highway Security Audits
In fact, essentially reviewing whether or not the design of a street or intersection is secure or not, earlier than or after it’s put in place, may be as efficient as any countermeasure put in on prime of mentioned street. Highway security audits are particularly efficient as a result of they’re accomplished by multidisciplinary groups that full a complete assessment of a design.
From website traits, corresponding to floor situations and limitations, to human elements, corresponding to street consumer conduct, parts noticed in an audit come collectively to reply the query of what might be accomplished to remove or mitigate security considerations. What makes the audit so incisive may also be the truth that street house owners can’t simply neglect such findings—they’re truly mandated to organize a proper response.
Written by: Michelle No. Extra analysis by Paxtyn Merten. Story modifying by Carren Jao. Extra modifying by Kelly Glass. Copy modifying by Tim Bruns.
