Protecting Pedestrians on Your Streets
Keeping pedestrians safe is important to every city and community. Every year, thousands of pedestrians are injured or killed in traffic accidents, many of which are caused by excessive speeding.
Whether your preferred method of transportation is by car, train, or bicycle, at some point in the day, you are a pedestrian. Whether you’re simply navigating from your office to your car or headed on a 2 mile run, you are traversing roads by foot, and you’re at risk. That’s why protecting pedestrians is protecting everyone, no matter what they’re preferred way to travel.
One of the most effective ways to protect pedestrians and promote safer roads is to reduce vehicle speeds in areas with high foot traffic. Here are four ways your city can do that, and in the process prevent tragic collisions and keep every pedestrian safe.
1. Deploy Radar Feedback Signs in High-Risk Areas:
Radar feedback signs are one of the most powerful tools for slowing speeders and improving pedestrian safety. These signs use radar technology to detect the speed of oncoming vehicles and display either vehicle speed or a custom message to alert drivers if they’re speeding. The real-time feedback serves as an immediate reminder for drivers to slow down, especially in areas with heavy foot traffic, such as school zones, busy intersections, and residential neighborhoods.
Traffic Logix offers customizable, full-matrix radar feedback signs that are capable of displaying a range of messages, including speed limits and warnings to slow down. These signs have been proven to reduce vehicle speeds, which can make all the difference in preventing collisions. By placing these signs in strategic locations, you can actively encourage drivers to adhere to safe speeds, especially in pedestrian-heavy zones.
2. Use Speed Humps and Other Physical Traffic Calming Devices
While radar feedback signs are effective in real-time speed reduction, incorporating physical traffic calming devices, such as speed humps in conjunction with them can further discourage speeding and enhance pedestrian safety. Speed humps are designed to compel drivers to reduce their speed when traveling over them, making them an ideal solution for areas where pedestrians frequently cross the street.
Physical traffic calming devices can include speed cushions on emergency response routes or road diets with road narrowing and other elements to help create safe streets. Incorporating these measures in areas with high pedestrian activity such as commercial districts or near parks or schools creates a more predictable and safer environment for both drivers and pedestrians. When used alongside radar feedback signs, the combination of visual alerts and physical barriers can significantly slow down traffic, ensuring that pedestrians can walk safely to wherever they need to go.
3. Leverage Cloud-Based Data for Better Planning
One of the unique benefits of Traffic Logix solutions is their ability to be monitored and managed remotely through the Logix on Cloud platform. This cloud-based interface allows city officials and traffic management teams to collect data in real-time on traffic speeds and volumes, enabling smarter decision-making about where to place additional traffic calming measures or increase enforcement.
By using the data collected from radar feedback signs or speed tracking devices, cities can identify patterns of speeding or congestion and optimize pedestrian safety accordingly. For example, if data shows that certain intersections are prone to high-speed traffic, additional signs or physical barriers can be deployed to address these concerns. The convenience of remote monitoring allows for ongoing adjustments to ensure safe streets for everyone.
4. Increase Visibility and Improve Focus
Effective pedestrian safety isn’t just about slowing speeders; it’s also about ensuring that both drivers and pedestrians can see each other clearly. That’s why all Traffic Logix speed tables and humps are embedded with highly reflective colored highway tape that drivers can see from a distance. And our interactive radar signs capture driver attention and return focus to the roads. They are available in a range of sizes to ensure that drivers can see them from a distance as they approach.
Engaging drivers with highly visible solutions helps to reduce distraction and ensure that they can see approaching pedestrians and that they are driving at slow enough speeds that they can stop in time when they need to.
However, installation doesn’t end with simply placing a sign on the street corner. Ensuring that signs are visible and that drivers can read them from a sufficient distance is crucial. Cities can optimize sign placement by avoiding obstructions like trees, signs, or other barriers that could obstruct visibility. Additionally, these signs can be programmed to operate in “stealth mode” temporarily, allowing cities to gather data before the signs become active, ensuring that they’re in the right locations to maximize impact.
Creating Safe Streets for All
Pedestrian safety is a shared responsibility between drivers, pedestrians, and local governments. By adopting technologies like driver feedback signs, speed humps, and data-driven decision-making, cities can take significant strides in creating safer streets for everyone. Slowing down speeders and improving pedestrian safety not only helps prevent accidents but also fosters a greater sense of community by making our streets more welcoming and accessible for all.
Whether you’re looking to reduce speeding in school zones or make residential streets more pedestrian-friendly, Traffic Logix solutions provide the data, technology, and results you need to build safer, smarter communities.