The likelihood of death increases exponentially with vehicle speed.
according to APD’s website. Staff at APD and Vision Zero recog- nize that without law enforcement, speed limit reductions and traffic safety education do not have as big an impact on accident reduction. However, Leff said about 85% of motorists travel within 10 miles per hour of a given posted speed limit. Therefore, reducing speed limits can actually help lower average speeds in an area even if law enforcement is unavailable. “There’s always going to be the five or 10% that go beyond [the speed limit], and there will need to be some level of regulation or enforcement [for those people],” Leff said. Pedestrian safety Pedestrians account for over a third of traffic deaths, according to city data, outnumbering bicycle, motorcy- cle and vehicle-on-vehicle deaths. Data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration shows speeding not only increases motorists’ chances of being involved in an accident, but it also increases the severity of injuries caused by the crash, especially concerning car-on-pedestrian collisions. For example, data from the National
100%
38mph Current average of updated roads
75%
The likelihood of a pedestrian dying in an automobile accident increases drastically as the speed rises. Dangers of speeding for pedestrians
25% of people will die 32 mph,
75% of people will die 50 mph,
50%
23 mph, 10% of people will die
44mph Previous average of updated roads
25%
0%
15 MPH
MPH 25
MPH 35
MPH 45
MPH 55
SOURCE: NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION SAFETY ADMINISTRATION/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Impact speed
organizations, agree that enforce- ment is a part of the solution to safer roads, but note that it does not have to mean punishment, but education. “It doesn’t mean a monstrous fine,” said Elizabeth De La Garza, a TxDOT grant administrator with the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center who runs DRSR. Rather, De La Garza said speedy drivers should have “meaningful consequences,” such as taking a driv- ing safety course.
Association of City Transportation Officials states if a pedestrian is hit by a car going 23 mph, there is a 1 in 10 chance that person will die, but a driver who hits a pedestrian at 32 mph raises the odds to 1 in 4. At 50 mph, that rate jumps to 75%. Traffic safety education Employees at Driving on the Ride Side of the Road, a TxDOT program that offers free traffic safety resources to schools, courts and community
DRSR’s goal is to provide traffic safety education for drivers, young people who are pedestrians and pas- sengers and older drivers adapting to a new world, according to Ryan Turner, Executive Director at Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. “We’re not on the road alone; we’re a community,” Turner said.
For more information, visit communityimpact.com .
COFER & CONNELLY FAMILY LAW • CRIMINAL LAW • PERSONAL INJURY Austin H Hill Country H Central Texas Jeffrey Connelly COFERCONNELLY.COM • 602 W. 11 T H ST., AUSTIN, TX 78701 • 512-200-3801 Rick Cofer
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NORTH CENTRAL AUSTIN EDITION • JULY 2022
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