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| SHARING THE ROAD: TRAFFIC
AND ENFORCEMENT
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Success Stories
• The Pedestrian Safety Project in
Oakland, California, is hailed by the NHTSA as a national model. The program,
which
has strong
community and police involvement, focuses on education, enforcement
and infrastructure improvements. Hundreds of presentations and
classes have been conducted to teach people pedestrian safety skills
and
safe driving techniques. The city targeted vulnerable populations
including seniors (5). The city created a comprehensive 150-page
pedestrian master plan and a Walk Oakland guide and map (6). It
also provides
mini-grants of $500 to $12,000 to communities. Police sting operations
focusing
on pedestrian safety have been widely used (7).
• Santa
Monica, California, conducted sting operations and saw auto-pedestrian
collisions decrease by 23 percent (8).
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The
growth in traffic and increase in traffic violations is creating a
hostile and dangerous environment for pedestrians and bicyclists
in many urban areas, including the Twin Cities (1). According
to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
failure to yield contributed to 16 percent of fatal crashes in Minnesota,
compared to 8 percent nationwide. Driver inattention contributed to 13
percent of the state’s fatal crashes, compared to 7 percent nationwide.
Excessive and illegal speed is still the number one cause of vehicle
crashes statewide (2).
In
1996, Minnesota strengthened the law requiring drivers to stop for
pedestrians in marked or unmarked crosswalks. Minnesota now requires
drivers to stop for pedestrians in or entering marked or unmarked crosswalks
and prohibits vehicles from passing a vehicle that is stopped at a crosswalk
(3). Anecdotal evidence suggests that majority of drivers do not stop
for
pedestrians. In 2001, in vehicle-pedestrian crashes for which a cause
could be determined, 25 percent of drivers failed to yield the right-of-way
to a pedestrian. Driver inattention or distraction was a factor in another
26 percent of crashes (4).
Minnesota targets only a small percentage of its state and federal traffic
safety funding on bikes and pedestrians.
Recommendations Increase traffic enforcement and utilize new enforcement strategies
in order to make roads safer for drivers, transit users, pedestrians
and bicyclists alike.
- State
and local governments should increase investment in traffic enforcement.
- The
state should permit local governments to use photo enforcement
to ticket vehicles and cyclists who break traffic laws.
- Local
police should use new strategies that increase the effectiveness
of enforcement
efforts such as education/enforcement combinations
and media campaigns.
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Footnotes
1 Rosalind Bentley, “More refuse to Yield to Road Rules,” Minneapolis
Star-Tribune, 31 Oct. 2002, accessed from www.startribune.com.
2 Laurie Blake, “Pay attention! Minnesota’s bad habits contribute
to road deaths,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2 Feb. 2003, access from
www.startribune.com.
3 Minnesota Statutes 2001, 169.21, Subd. 2.
4 Minnesota Crash Facts 2001, accessed on 10 October 2002 from www.dps.state.mn.us/OTS/crashdata/crash_facts.asp.
5 “Pedestrian Safety in California: Five Years of Progress and Pitfalls,” 5.
6 Laura Casey, “Pedestrian Safety in the City of Oakland,” Oakland
Tribune, 22 Sept. 2002. Reprinted on City of Oakland’s website at
http://www.oakland.com.
7 Tom Van de Mark, City of Oakland, phone interview with Sara Rohde, 19
Feb. 2003.
8 Toni Coleman, “It will take more than flags to protect pedestrians,” Saint
Paul Pioneer Press, 7 Oct. 2002, accessed from www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress.
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