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