Rumble Strips, Protected Bike Lanes, and 7 Other Efforts to Make Roads Safer

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Rumble Strips, Protected Bike Lanes, and seven Different Efforts to Make Roads Safer

Whereas the COVID-19 pandemic might already be within the rearview mirror for some, its legacy on America’s roadways continues to be acutely felt at present.

In response to the Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration, the nationwide public well being emergency modified driving patterns drasticallywith “drivers who remained on the roads engaged in additional dangerous conduct, together with dashing, failing to put on seat belts, and driving below 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 12 months.

Whereas 2023’s almost 41,000 street fatalities characterize a modest lower from 2021’s excessive, that determine stays stubbornly greater than pre-pandemic ranges.

For probably the most half, behaviors reminiscent of distracted driving and the aforementioned dangerous behaviors proceed to be the primary drivers of fatalities, in line with TRIP, a nationwide nonprofit transportation analysis group. Whereas most of those causes appear preventable, the previous looms as probably the most unintentionally lethal driver conduct. That’s as a result of distracted driving isn’t simply cellular phone utilization and texting, however lower-effort behaviors that drivers may not notice depend as threat components, together with “consuming, speaking to passengers, adjusting the radio/local weather controls, or adjusting different automobile controls.”

To establish 9 confirmed measures being adopted to enhance American street security—and counteract such threat components—The Normal consulted a Federal Freeway Administration report and different sources to spotlight security countermeasures that supply measurable impacts.

Some, reminiscent of the appliance of rumble strips, are extremely easy and provide a 44% discount in crashes between two automobiles stepping into reverse instructions, head-on collisions, and sideswipe accidents. Others, reminiscent of roundabouts, would possibly require a bigger funding however promise a jaw-dropping 82% discount in crashes.

Learn on to study 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.

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Automated Velocity Enforcement Cameras

Velocity security cameras are an efficient technique 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 automobile’s pace and seize photographic or video proof of automobiles going over the set restrict. These cameras might be applied in some ways, from one fastened digital camera concentrating on a selected location to a number of cameras that calculate a automobile’s common pace over a sure distance. The know-how is efficient, with fastened models resulting in as much as a 54% discount in crashes on main city roads.

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Rumble Strips

Newer automotive fashions as of late are outfitted 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 via tactile and auditory suggestions that they’ve left their lanes. Regardless of the rumble strip’s low-tech composition, the bodily aspect of the raised street patterns implies that drivers can solely “flip them off” by correcting their lane positioning. The outcome? A 44 to 64% discount in head-on, other way, and sideswipe crashes.

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Median Boundaries

There’s not a number of room for error in slender, high-speed roads. That’s the place median limitations are available in. Designed as both cable, concrete, or beam guardrails, limitations cut back the severity of cross-lane accidents, usually 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 help for drivers who’re intimidated by such quick streets.

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Roundabouts

Roundabouts are one of the crucial efficient measures for lowering automotive crashes, boasting an 82% discount in extreme crashes. Applied 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.

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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 immediately deal with the facility imbalance between automobile and pedestrians. Providing the latter a three- to seven-second head begin to start crossing earlier than vehicles see a inexperienced mild, these indicators enable pedestrians to determine themselves within the crosswalk and assert their right-of-way. This extra time has decreased pedestrian crashes by 13%.

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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, provide individuals the chance to cross one route of site visitors at a time and safely wait on an “island” earlier than ending crossing the street. It’s vital, nonetheless, to notice that islands aren’t essentially efficient on high-speed, multilane roads, the place different security measures reminiscent of indicators and a discount in lanes would possibly lead to extra fast change.

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Protected Bike Lanes

Bikers who share the street with drivers don’t usually see that favor returned. Protected bike lanes, or lanes which might be separated and guarded through posts or different bodily limitations, provide cyclists a technique to pedal in peace, with out the worry of encroaching automobiles. However that’s not all: One examine from the College of Colorado Denver of 13 years of knowledge from a number of American cities discovered that bike lanes act as “calming mechanisms on site visitors, slowing vehicles and lowering 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.

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Curved Roadside Enhancements

The truth of curved roads makes them dangerous: They contain sharp angles, cut back visibility, and might act in your automobile’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 recuperate after by accident leaving the roadway.

Similar to rumble strips, enhancements reminiscent of flatter slopes and shoulders transition drivers from easy pavement to rougher terrain, signaling imminent hazard whereas giving them area to course-correct. Boundaries may not essentially give drivers the prospect to bounce again, however they do forestall much more critical accidents, reminiscent of head-on collisions.

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Street Security Audits

In fact, basically reviewing whether or not the design of a street or intersection is protected or not, earlier than or after it’s put in place, might be as efficient as any countermeasure put in on high of stated street. Street security audits are particularly efficient as a result of they’re accomplished by multidisciplinary groups that full a complete overview of a design.

From web site traits, reminiscent of floor situations and limitations, to human components, reminiscent of street consumer conduct, parts noticed in an audit come collectively to reply the query of what may very well be carried out to eradicate or mitigate security issues. What makes the audit so incisive may also be the truth that street house owners can’t simply neglect such findings—they’re really mandated to arrange a proper response.

Written by: Michelle No. Further analysis by Paxtyn Merten. Story enhancing by Carren Jao. Further enhancing by Kelly Glass. Copy enhancing by Tim Bruns.