Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol
Zero-Based Law Enforcement
Part Thirteen
Strategies to enhance traffic safety are among the steps that law enforcement officers could take through Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Much of traffic enforcement is re-active. For example, traffic accident investigations, improvements to traffic intersections after severe injuries or deaths, and enforcement of traffic laws, among other reactive steps.
Zero-Based Law Enforcement calls for the inclusion of proactive steps to enhance traffic safety. These measures could include setting a priority structure of what items and what areas to focus attention. With that priority structure in place, specific techniques could be determined as to which would be best for enforcement to enhance safety, including such items as inspection of traffic lines-of-sight, changing traffic signalization timing for motor vehicles, and changing pedestrian signalization timing.
Setting a priority structure of what items and what areas to focus attention is critical in Zero-Based Enforcement. These prioritization efforts would include determining the areas where traffic incidents cause fatalities, injuries, and property damage. The specific areas would be ranked with the levels of each of the activities ranked from highest to lowest as priorities.
With that prioritization in place, traffic enforcement techniques would focus on the highest priorities of fatalities first, then the highest priorities of injuries, and then the highest priorities where property damage occurs.
Inspection of traffic lines-of-sight would be among the techniques to be considered to determine potential ways to decrease fatalities, injuries, and property damage. Law enforcement officers could determine if drivers of motor vehicles, bicycles, and other vehicles are able to clearly see oncoming traffic. Inspection of roadways, pathways, and other routes could highlight problem areas.
For example, signs, trees and other vegetation, structures, and other items may block lines-of-sight. In consultation with other professionals, law enforcement officers could recommend alternative locations for signage and recommend that trees and other vegetation be trimmed back or removed. Also, in consultation with other professionals, law enforcement officers could recommend ways to deal with structures that impact lines-of-sight.
Recommendations could be as simple as cutting a tree branch that blocks a traffic safety sign to as impactful as changing the location of a roadway that has lines-of-sight blocked because of a structure.
Changing traffic signalization timing for motor vehicles could be a way to enhance traffic safety. In many cases, traffic signals stay on the red light for three to four seconds for both streams of traffic at intersections of two roadways. The concept is to allow the traffic stream that had a yellow light to be able to completely travel through the intersection even when the yellow light has turned to a red light.
Not all motor vehicles complete travel through such an intersection within the allocated three or four seconds. In some cases, the motor vehicles are violating traffic regulations by entering an intersection as the traffic light turns red or has already turned red. Traffic accidents are more likely to occur in such situations.
Extending traffic signalization timing to five seconds from three to four seconds could potentially decrease traffic accidents among motor vehicles by providing a greater time buffer for both streams of traffic.
Changing signalization timing for pedestrians could also be a way to enhance traffic safety. At intersections that do not have specific controls that pedestrians could use to activate "Walk" signals and where pedestrian movement is common, extending traffic signalization timing to ten seconds from three to four seconds could potentially decrease traffic accidents involving pedestrians by providing a greater time buffer for pedestrians to complete crossing an intersection.
With these changes in place, enforcement of traffic regulations could focus on those areas of roadways with the highest levels of fatalities, then the highest levels of injuries, and then the highest levels of property damage occurrences.
As attention to those priorities decreases fatalities, injuries, and property damage, law enforcement officers could move on to focus enforcement of traffic regulations on those areas of roadways that have lower levels of fatalities, injuries, and property damage.
These steps implemented through Zero-Based Law Enforcement could potentially enhance traffic safety.
The next news column in this series will focus on how law enforcement officers could focus on specific strategies to minimize people driving under the influence through Zero-Based Law Enforcement.
Peirspictiochtai Ar A Saol – Gaelic – Irish – for "Perspectives On Life" is a column focused on aspects of accountability and responsibility as well as ways people look at life.
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