Traffic Signs for School Zones
December 12, 2011 by Jessi McCafferty
Filed under Speed and Blind Dating
Distracted drivers are hazardous anywhere. But at school areas where hundreds of youngsters are present and many are crossing streets, they’re more potentially dangerous. Drivers who are distracted by passengers, cell phones or perhaps the radio may travel faster, notice pedestrians more infrequently and be accountable for more accidents.
The average driver responds fairly quickly to issues. A kid dashing into traffic or a vehicle stopping suddenly are things that any one of us may encounter at any point. It takes us about three quarters of a second to see the problem and decide what to do, for example seeing a kid and hitting the brakes or turning the wheel. Less than a second sounds like an intensely short amount of time. But when you consider that the auto is moving all of that time, it’s easy to see how a reaction time of less than a second can translate into a significant accident.
Distracted drivers take several times longer to notice an issue and react, if they see it all. If a driver notices a difficulty and reacts within that second, a vehicle traveling about 30 mph will travel about 33 feet inside that reaction time. When you figure 33 feet for every second of time, and you consider that the brakes may take a few seconds to stop the momentum of the car, you can see that an alert driver still may not be able to stop for over 100 feet.
If a kid dashed directly in front of a distracted driver, an accident is perhaps unavoidable. But the slower the driver is going, the less likely it is that the accident will be lethal, and the more time the driver has to stop.
Lit speed signs can be helpful. Because drivers generally reduce speed when seeing their speed relayed back to them, drivers in a school zone will be going slower than might be normal. Even those who are not speeding when approaching the sign have been shown to slow their speed. Anything that can help in cutting the speed of both attentive and distracted drivers is something that will help reduce accidents.
If a driver is distracted, the bright lights of a lit sign can help draw his attention and slow him down when driving thru school speed zones. Get your speed sign today from Trafficalm to help slow traffic in areas where children play.
