Local roads safety resource from the Federal Highway Adminstration

I was debating on mentioning this CD resource recently published by the Federal Highway Administration, and then I saw this piece in the Gazette, "Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate dies after being hit by SUV," which has been discussed in a couple different threads in Washcycle including "Maryland Senate Candidate in Critical Condition after being hit by an SUV."

Below are the recommendations that I wrote with regard to enforcement from the Western Baltimore County Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Plan:

Enforcement and Traffic Safety

Creating a safe environment for walking and bicycling depends not only how facilities are designed, but also on how they are used. Traffic safety enforcement, coupled with engineering, education, and encouragement, is integral to traffic safety.

Enforcement efforts should be built upon community partnerships and education, and encourage safe and lawful travel by strategically targeting high-risk behavior and locations. Balancing traffic enforcement with safety education and encouragement efforts will improve road safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.

Through accident data compiled by the Traffic Analysis section of the Crime Analysis Unit of the Baltimore County Police Department, as well as from the Maryland Highway Safety Office, the traffic enforcement unit of the police department sets priorities for additional enforcement. An analysis that determines the primary factors contributing to pedestrian and bicycle crashes could lead to other types of engineering or education countermeasures. For example, an area experiencing a high rate of accidents may be due in part to the physical design of the roadway. Funding and capital improvement projects can be prioritized to address problematic situations.

Police officers are more likely to enforce laws they understand and acknowledge. All police officers should be trained on the rules of the road for bicyclists; types of illegal motorist behaviors that endanger bicyclists; dangerous types of bicycling behaviors; common causes of bicycle crashes; the importance of reporting bicycle crashes; importance of investigating serious bicycle crash sites; best ways to prevent bicycle theft; advantages to policing by bicycle; and the transportation, health, and environmental benefits of bicycling. As the amount of pedestrian and bicycling activity increases in Baltimore County, it will be important for police officers to become more familiar with relevant laws.

The Federal Highway Administration publishes two volumes, Pedsafe: Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System and Bikesafe: Bicycle Countermeasure Selection System, which provide solutions in response to common types of accidents, accompanied by software tools.

Enforcement Recommendations

1. Develop a coordinated accident analysis program designed to identify and correct problems that may lead to a disproportionate number of pedestrian and/or bicycling accidents. Participants could include the Traffic Analysis Unit of the Crime Analysis section and the Traffic Enforcement division of the Police Department, as well as other county and state agencies as appropriate. [in the original draft I specified the Office of Planning and the DPW, San Jose, Portland and Chicago do this, probably other places do too]

2. Continue to increase enforcement activities at locations experiencing a disproportionately high number of pedestrian and/or bicycle crashes and injuries. Targeting enforcement at locations with more accidents is an effective use of limited enforcement resources.

3. Continue through enforcement activities to target those motorist behaviors determined to be the greatest threats to pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

4. Develop continuing education opportunities for police officers on specific enforcement issues. Reach police officers in inexpensive and effective ways, such as screening videos at roll call and distributing Action Alerts, memorandums to police officers on specific enforcement issues.

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In a section of the plan draft that did not make it into the publicly released draft, I made 8 recommendations with regard to state programs, including the Maryland Highway Safety Office. One of the recommendations was the creation of an advertising program on the "3 foot rule" and bicyclists within the StreetSmarts effort in the DC and Baltimore regions.

Billboard from New Orleans, courtesy of the New Orleans Regional Planning Commission.