Saturday 15 August 2015

Take It Easy




Residential areas are designed for safety, comfort, and peace. Slow down. Yes, it may be irritating to drive at twenty miles per hour on an empty road, but speed laws are in place for good reason. By maintaining the speed limit, you’ll be more aware, careful, and respectful of the people around you. You may even save a life.

Residential Accidents

Accidents in residential zones are a problem, even if they are relatively rare. According to Michigan’s Institute of Transportation Engineers, residential areas pose an interesting problem for city planners and residents: “Although local or residential streets carry the lowest traffic volumes and suffer the fewest traffic crashes, they are the single largest consumer of a traffic engineer’s time and energy.”

A neighbourhood should be a place where families can feel safe. Any accident, especially in a neighbourhood, is one too many. There are many factors that can lead to accidents, including “driver error, negligence, distracted driving, manufacturing defects and dangerous weather,” according to Sawaya Law. A single automobile accident in a neighbourhood can instantly affect the lives of everyone in the community.
Traffic Calming Strategies

Many city and transportation planners are using group techniques known as traffic calming. Traffic calming refers to strategies to get drivers to slow down other than simple speed limits. According to the Federal Highway Administration, these techniques include:

  • Pedestrianisation. This refers to the attempt to make an area more walker-friendly. The idea is that having a higher number of pedestrians in an area will force traffic to slow down. This has been extremely successful in other countries, such as Germany.

  • Speed humps. This is the speed bump’s less severe cousin. The general concept is the same, but the elevation in the pavement is lower and more spread out, making it less likely to damage cars, and less likely to anger drivers.

  • Roundabouts/Traffic Circles. These can confuse drivers who are new to them, but roundabouts slow traffic down, decrease serious accidents, and force motorists to pay close attention to their surroundings.
How Slowing Down Improves Safety

Driving slowly puts you and the people around you in a safer environment. The next time you get annoyed at that 20 MPH sign, remember the children, elderly people, and people with disabilities who may be endangered by reckless driving. Remember that not only does slowing down cause fewer accidents, it also ensures that accidents that may occur could be less serious.    
Other Neglected Safety Fundamentals

It’s easy to overlook the obvious when considering safety. As with slowing down, people know the basics but often forget them when it comes to real world practise. Drivers requires a great deal of reminders. Here’s another one:

  • Alcohol. The National Safety Council lists alcohol as a greater cause of accidents than speeding. Remember that even the legal amounts of alcohol can weaken your reflexes and ability to think. Drink at home, have a designated driver, or take a cab even if you feel “okay to drive.”

  • Distracted Driving. Texting behind the wheel gets a lot of (deserved) negative press, but remember that distracted driving includes other things, such eating, fiddling with the radio, and even speaking with your passengers. 

Overall, neighbourhoods and residential areas should be a place where drivers should practise safety. Respect the speed limit, give the road your undivided attention, and always strive to maintain the safety of these areas.





**this is a collaborative post

24 comments:

  1. People speed through out village! We have recently had traffic lights put in but we really need a camera too

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    1. Our street has a 20mph speed limit, like most of the streets now. We have a school at the end of our street so as you can imagine it gets busy yet people still speed. It really angers me

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  2. What a great informative post.

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    1. Thank you. It angers me to see so many people speed. It is not them that gets hurt or killed, it is the person who were obeying the speed limit. Time to crack down I think x

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  3. Road safety is so important. Brake is a great resource for UK motorists and the general public http://www.brake.org.uk/

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    1. I agree, it is very important. Thanks for the link, I will check them out x

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  4. Great post. Sadly we had a death on one of the narrow country Kane's near me . Road safety is important

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  5. Excellent advice - lives are far more important than speed.

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    1. definitely. We have a horrible little bit of road which is on a slight hill which people don't realise and they pick up speed quickly. 3 years ago there was a fatal accident there. They have put measures in place. fingers crossed they work x

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  6. They have made my road 20mph this summer but I have to say that most do not take any notice at all! I worry as my son has autism and no idea of danger. Eventually I'd like to move to a quiet road.

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    1. I see children playing next to the road and it scares me. Some of the adults are not much better!! It is good they have the 20mph limit but as you say most dont take notice which is very upsetting x

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  7. I get so annoyed by people that drive too fast up our road, using it as a cut through

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    1. There is no need to drive too fast. Wish they would realise it is for their safety as well as everyone else x

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  8. Drinking and driving makes me furious as does using a mobile phone. So many accidents that shouldn't happen due to those :(

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    1. Drink driving should be zero tolerance, even one drink is too much. I actually saw a police officer driving and talking on a phone! I was stunned. no need for it at all. x

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  9. We have lots of paths round where we live which is nice for safety purposes. I hate walking down the main road as the cars go so fast!

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    1. I would love more paths that road in my area being honest. There seems to be a busy road at every turn x

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  10. I disagree entirely on speed bumps. They may slow traffic down as they approach them but then cars just speed up again. They are also not good for emergency services, they hate them and they are not good for people with back complaints - much of the info I found out through a work survey x

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    1. I am with you on speed bumps. Yes I can see the thought process behind them, sadly they do not work and as you say they just speed up again.
      As someone with a back problem, they are not nice!

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  11. The residents where we live are great, but they are building a new housing estate round the corner and the contractors are terrible

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    1. Oh no! Workmen are the worlds worst. They take over the street. My mum had issues with them leaving wheelbarrows etc in the middle of the road. Unreal x

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  12. some roads by us have cars speeding down them! We are lucky as we are in a cup-de-sac but its a bit of a worry! x

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    1. It is a worry. Schools start back here tomorrow so our street will be chaotic again x

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