Fiore said the Police Department’s traffic unit will ensure that Vision Zero does not have a negative effect on communities of color. The unit focuses mainly on hazardous driving behavior and moving violations, he said, rather than “income-based violations” — such as expired registrations or unlawful vehicle equipment — to reduce racial disparities among police stops.
The first step, to stop racing is "speed limits on portions of East Washington Avenue in Madison will be lowered by 5 to 10 mph to combat dangerous driving." (One driver was clocked at 110 mph.) We all know that drag racers will slow down when they realize the posted speed limit is now lower. I suppose they'll have to, since their obstacles (the rest of us) will be going slower.
The next step is to slow down a stretch of Milwaukee Street. Vision Zero is nominally a "data driven approach", but I wonder what they're trying to get the data to say.
The problems I've seen have been due to people racing a stupidly timed light on E.Wash and 1'st, and inattention elsewhere (e.g. crossing against a light) The auto/pedestrian accidents I've read about have usually involved alcohol or stolen cars.
But I suppose if the speed limit is Zero, the traffic-related deaths and injuries will be Zero.
Mike Royko had his own take back in '86. "I was slapped with a speeding ticket by a trooper in Kentucky. Although it cost me a few dollars, I accepted it cheerfully. That`s because my heavy right foot has saved me countless of hours of traveling time, thus letting me avoid dozens of nights in drab motels and potentially fatal meals in roadside diners."
5 comments:
As someone with some different engineering background, the area of traffic-engineering is a tempting hobby. The efforts for uniform national and international standards means that the design-guides and the justification therefore (along with bibliography) are posted for all to see. The setting of speed-limits is essentially 1st course freshman level introductory traffic engineering.
So clicking through to that article, my first impression is GOD THEY ARE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE KILLED!!!!
The FHWA says it pretty clearly: "research has repeatedly shown that changes in posted speeds have little effect on operating speeds." footnoted to Parker, M. R., Jr. Synthesis of Speed Zoning Practices, Report No. FHWA/RD-85/096, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C., 1985.
https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/speedmgt/ref_mats/fhwasa10001/#c7.2
So in the first place, it is misinformed to say "“Lowering the speed limit by even 5 mph significantly increases the chances of a person walking or biking surviving a crash and will reduce the severity of crashes involving people driving” as the police guy says in the as Tom Lynch, city transportation director says in the article you link -- it assumes that lowering the speed limit will lower the speed of the cars on the road. That word limit that I bolded in the quote makes it untrue.
In one study "Accidents at the 58 experimental sites where speed limits were lowered increased by 5.4 percent" (http://www.ibiblio.org/rdu/sl-irrel.html)
The accident hot spots they show in the W Journal article are mostly pedestrian crossing and left-turn problems, so I'd surmise that widening the probability density of the approach speed is going to make it even more difficult for people to grock whether they can get across safely. My prediction is that number and severity of accidents will increase.
Some of the light-running is probably traffic-light-timing issues (most likely people trying to overcome poorly timed lights) so it's possible that the lower-limit might inadvertently fix that.
Perhaps the next generation of drivers will slow to match the posted speed. Though if the limit is a poor match to the road conditions, probably not.
Expired registrations are not necessarily only "income-based violations." Often registrations expire because the vehicle hasn't passed the most recent inspection, and for whatever reason the owner hasn't bothered to make the changes necessary to pass inspection. Vehicles that fail inspection are usually less safe vehicles, as they may have problems with brakes, turn signals, brake lights, or windshield wipers.
Over the years I have been impressed by how speed limit signs where I live reflect the speed I am comfortable driving at. Then an exception arose. For some reason, the main street where I live recently had the speed limit lowered from 40-45 to 35. No one drives it at 35.
Eliminating ALL vehicle injuries and deaths by 20130? Never can do, though deaths per million passenger miles is much lower than it used to be.
I don't recall having any vehicles inspected here, so that's probably not usually the issue. On the other hand, people who forget to renew their registration probably forget other maintenance as well, so the safety issue is still relevant.
The major street a couple blocks away and the street I live on are both posted at 25. The major street is straight and wide enough to handle 30-35 easily. I take the bend in ours at 15-20--I can't see if kids are playing. (Some people take it at 40.)
Texas has both safety and emissions inspection. Wisconsin has only emission inspection/testing, so you are correct, stuff like bad brake lights wouldn't affect passing inspection and thus registration in Wisconsin. I view safety inspection for vehicles as a good government regulation, as it makes me aware of safety issues for my vehicle that I would (might?) otherwise not notice.
What? Less regulation in Wisconsin, home of La Follette and progressive politics, compared to Texas? Whooda thunkit?
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