Southwest Austin | Dripping Springs - July 2022

The likelihood of death increases exponentially with vehicle speed.

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 Association of City Trans- portation Officials states if a pedes- trian is hit by a car going 23 mph, there is a 1 in 10 chance that per- son 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%. “Every [extra] mile per hour comes with exponential risk,” Leff said.

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

Traffic safety education Employees at Driving on the Right Side of the Road, a TxDOT pro- gram that offers free traffic safety resources to schools, courts and community organizations, agree that enforcement 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. DRSR’s goal is to integrate traffic safety into the education system, as traffic safety affects more than just drivers, but young people who are pedestrians and passengers, according to Ryan Turner, Executive Director at Texas Municipal Courts

Education Center. DRSR also recom- mends traffic safety courses for older individuals who need help adapt- ing to changing road environments, such as electric scooters. “We’re not on the road alone; we’re a community,” Turner said. “We need to drive as if we are driving with the whole community with us."

For more information, visit communityimpact.com .

In a 2022 Readex Research Survey, residents ranked Community Impact Newspaper #1 for usefulness of ads across TV, Radio, Social Media and Targeted Digital.

D ON ’T W OR R Y ABOU T THAT WA ISTLI NE . MAU D IE’S OFFERS AN E X PAN SIV E GL UT EN-FRE E ME N U A N D S KI N N Y T E X- M EX OP T IONS . MAU

CONTACT CI FOR YOUR NEXT AD CAMPAIGN �866� 989�6808

@MaudiesTXMex

W W W.M AU DIES.C O M

31

SOUTHWEST AUSTIN - DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • JULY 2022

Powered by