Killing Speed: a good Practice Guide to Speed Management
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Actively promote cycling and walking, which pose little threat to other road users, by taking positive and coordinated action to increase the safety and mobility of these benign modes. Promote the adoption of this charter as the basis of both national and international transport policy. The Council recognises that: "Slowing traffic down is the best way to stop accidents and make the roads feel safer for all road users." Their Speed Management Plan, adopted in 1997, aims to reduce traffic speeds in a way that is acceptable to the public. At its heart are three road categories, each with a target speed and an indication of the measures which could be used to achieve the target of greater compliance with the speed limit: (a) Traffic routes Defined as: the busy main roads important for getting about the city and also the main bus and emergency vehicle routes; target speed 40mph and above. Measures to achieve the target: ‘soft traffic calming’ such as pedestrian crossings and cycle lanes. This network is generally free from vertical measures (eg road humps). (b) Mixed priority routes Defined as: also important for getting around but which go through villages and past schools, where slower speeds are appropriate; target speed 30mph. Measures to achieve the target: some vertical measures (speed cushions, road humps) targeted at areas where there are concerns. (c) Residential areas Defined as: all the other roads on the plan, where the needs of residents will generally have priority over traffic; target speed 20mph. Measures to achieve the target: a full range of traffic calming measures could be applied (road humps, chicanes, mini-roundabouts etc) where there are casualty problems and residents support the measures. The Council consulted widely on a draft plan, which was then amended in the light of comments from the emergency services, parish councils and groups representing the mobility impaired. The consultation involved: a mobile exhibition a survey of the views of 1,500 residents parish councils and neighbourhood forums emergency services and road user organisations direct contact by the public with officers drafting the plan Since implementation, the Speed Management Plan has proved to be useful in discussion with residents, by providing an understandable framework for what types of measure are likely to be appropriate for each type of road. The Council has specific speed-related indicators and targets to measure success in achieving Local Transport Plan objectives: Indicators
compliance with speed limits in urban areas Target all of York’s 60 primary schools and 12 secondary schools to have 20mph school safety zones (at a rate of about 12 per year) The Council has also adopted the target of completing road safety studies for all the villages within the district during the life of the first Local Transport Plan. York City Council also works in partnership with North Yorkshire Police in an anti-speeding campaign to highlight that speeding is not likely to save motorists time, since they often just reach the next traffic queue sooner and have to wait longer. They may, on the other hand, be caught for speeding. Contact: Ken Spence Road Safety Team Environment and Development Services City of York Council 9 St Leonard’s Place York YO1 7ET (tel: 01904 613 161)
The Devon strategy adopts a holistic approach to reducing vehicle speeds in order that a modified driving culture begins to emerge. Importantly, Devon County Council’s approach takes a standpoint that a crash and casualty problem is not the most central issue for many people. Instead, danger and fear of speed have a powerful and detrimental effect on the quality of life for many Devon communities, as the Council has found through community safety audits and work with parishes. There are nine objectives for the implementation of the strategy. These are divided into three headings focused on (a) driver awareness and attitudes, (b) designing for lower speeds, and (c) improving compliance with speed limits:
Objective 2: To create widespread awareness of speed choices and speed issues among existing drivers Objective 3: To achieve successful partnerships for speed reductions Objective 4: To implement special measures for the at-risk drivers Objective 5: To work in partnership with the police in order to strengthen deterrence Objective 6: To offer support to employers to manage the speeds of their drivers (b) Designing roads for lower speeds Objective 7: To undertake community-wide reviews of the impact of vehicle speeds, and adjust road layouts and speed limits where appropriate to match local circumstances, in partnership with police and local communities (c) Improving levels of compliance with speed limits Objective 8: To develop the scope of the automatic speed detection programme and test the effectiveness of other technologies Objective 9: To support the police in their intelligence-led and targeted programmes
Devon County Council has also developed a community-based campaign with video and action packs, entitled Driving Speeds Down in Devon. The campaign seeks not only to reduce the number of casualties but also to improve the quality of life in communities throughout the county by reducing the impact that excessive vehicle speeds have upon them. The campaign gives support and resources to local communities to play an active role in driving down speeds – for example, by establishing local traffic groups, getting residents who are motorists to sign a pledge committing them to ‘drive at a safe speed, treating the speed limit as an ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM’. The initial assumption is that every community is as much perpetrator as it is victim – in other words, that speed problems are generated by the very communities which suffer from them. According to the County Council, this is not a moral judgement but a practical one. The approach recognises that there is a need to get beyond the arguments that others are to blame, that the community is defenceless against the faceless, inconsiderate drivers who destroy the quality of life of a locality simply by passing through it – and also that the community can do nothing without the assistance of the local authority and the police (Phillips, 2000). Contact: Road Safety Group Environment Directorate Lucombe House County Hall Exeter EX2 4QW (tel: 01392 382 118) 3. 3 Gloucester Safer City: City-wide demonstration project The Gloucester Safer City project is a city-wide demonstration project running from April 1996 to March 2001, the only one of its kind in the UK. Over £5 million of road safety improvements in the city, funded through DETR, have been planned (equivalent to 30 years’ worth of road safety work in the space of five years). The project is based on a comprehensive approach to speed management, with the following key ingredients: working within the framework set by Gloucestershire’s Sustainable Transport Plan extensive education and awareness campaigning, consultation and partnership, including the involvement of emergency services, bus operators and the police analysis of traffic flows and speeds, crash casualty records for the entire city and existing land uses a new road hierarchy for the city The consultation revealed that 68% of people were concerned about speeding. Furthermore, analysis showed that inappropriate speed was the most common cause of road crashes in the city. The new road hierarchy (outer bypass, main roads, mixed use roads, residential access roads and pedestrian routes) creates a virtuous circle in which speed reduction becomes an important demand management tool. Area-wide traffic calming measures on mixed use and residential roads (which now cover 70% of the city) lengthen journey times and encourage commuter traffic to use the main roads. Traffic volumes on the sensitive roads are thereby reduced, allowing reallocation of road space to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. Facilities which give greater priority to non-car modes are managed so that they also contribute to speed reduction. For example, pedestrian delays at signal-controlled crossings have been cut by 50%, reducing risk-taking by pedestrians while slowing traffic with minimal complaint from motorists. On main roads, high-profile enforcement of speed limits is used as a speed control tool. The aim is to achieve wholesale reductions in speed by raising driver awareness of issues such as the consequences of speeding, and thus changing behaviour. This is achieved by convincing drivers that there is an active speed reduction campaign in place throughout the city. In particular, Gloucester Safer City has recognised that the majority of drivers perceive the risk of getting caught for speeding as low, as typically it is only the worst offenders who are prosecuted. To ensure better compliance with speed limits, Safer City and the police established a partnership to develop a comprehensive programme of enforcement, both mobile and at fixed locations. A service level agreement with the police sets out terms and conditions for the use of in-car video and recording equipment purchased by Gloucester County Council, including a requirement that the police provide the Council with quarterly records of successful prosecutions brought through use of the equipment. The agreement also requires the police to take part in publicity campaigns and to provide video footage of offending behaviour for use in such campaigns. Mobile detection A laser gun (similar to a radar gun but more sophisticated) is in daily use by dedicated police enforcement officers. Mobile speed detection routinely takes place at agreed sites that have a history of speed-related crashes. As the project progresses and more speed reduction improvements are installed, the police will be able to focus more attention on the remainder of the road network. During 1999 a total of 1,920 drivers were caught for speeding from mobile detection sites in Gloucester. In addition, in-car video cameras have been installed in two patrol cars. Both cars travel approximately 800 miles a week and the video camera continuously records the behaviour of drivers (Gloucester Safer City, 1998). Fixed detection Speed cameras have been installed at sites with a history of speed-related crashes. An automatic film processor has been in use since May 1997 to deal with red light running and speeding offences. In just over a year, nearly 15,000 offenders have been caught in the county of Gloucestershire, with offences being processed within 24 hours. Since April 1997 a conditional offer system has been in operation whereby motorists not contesting the offence are given a fixed penalty rather than being taken to court. During 1999 a total of 1,477 drivers were caught for speeding from fixed detection sites in Gloucester. The seven permanent speed camera sites are visible and prominent to drivers, and alert them to the high profile given to camera-based enforcement in the city. Together with signs warning drivers to slow down when entering Gloucester and posters stating the total of fines paid and driving licence points issued, the message conveyed is that if drivers choose to speed, then it is only a matter of time before they get caught. The implication of speeding and its routine enforcement is also a frequent subject in Safer City’s monthly advertisements in a local newspaper. Results The results indicate that the project has already been a success. By July 1999 Gloucester Safer City had achieved: 47% reduction in personal injury casualties 5mph reduction in speeds on treated main roads and 10mph reduction on mixed use and residential roads a significant (1.2mph) reduction in speeds on 49 roads in the city 15% reduction in motor traffic on mixed used and residential roads evidence of traffic evaporation and modal shift for journeys to work through increased cycling and use of public transport 60% of people surveyed feeling safer than they did five years ago Contact: Paul Bellotti Safer City Project Herbert Warehouse The Docks Gloucester GL1 2EQ (tel: 01452 396 873)
diminishes the visibility of the support structure does not break the skyline in the countryside makes rural and urban areas appear less cluttered 4.1 Dorrington and Craven Arms, Shropshire – countdowns and cushions on a trunk road At Dorrington and Craven Arms, both straddling the A49 in Shropshire, ‘countdown’ signs specially authorised by DETR have been installed in advance of 30mph speed limits at both ends of the villages. In addition, there are ‘dragon’s teeth’ markings on the approaches to the 30mph limit signs (17 pairs in Dorrington, nine in Craven Arms), plus red patches with 30mph repeater roundels or signs at intervals through the villages (five in Dorrington, six in Craven Arms). Although speed cushions had not previously been used on a trunk road, they were used in Craven Arms because they seemed appropriate to control speeds in the centre of the village. Four mini-roundabouts were installed as a speed reducing measure in order to comply with the Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1990 in force at that time (subsequently superseded by the 1996 Regulations). Speeds at the Dorrington and Craven Arms gateways were reduced by between 7 and 10mph (see Table 2). The use of repeater roundels in Craven Arms also reduced speeds in the centre of the village by around 4-5mph. Table 2: Mean and 85th percentile speeds at Dorrington and Craven Arms gateways before and one year after scheme installation (speed limit in both villages 30mph) N/W gateway (inbound) S/E gateway (inbound) cost before after before after mean 85th %ile mean 85th %ile mean 85th %ile mean 85th %ile Dorrington 41 48 33 39 39 46 32 37 £24,800 Craven Arms 41 49 33 40 42 49 33 41 £80,000 A public opinion survey carried out at Craven Arms found that around 67% of people thought the countdown signs, gateway markings and repeated red patches were useful. The mini-roundabouts were, however, criticised (DETR, 1997).
DTLR
3/24 Great Minster House London SW1P 4DR (tel: 020 7944 2954) 4.2 West Lothian Council gateway treatments and road narrowings West Lothian Council has carried out a series of traffic calming schemes which have used gateway treatments, road markings and road narrowings on main roads. The results from the three villages of Dechmont, West Calder and Pumpherston indicate an average 4.5mph reduction in speed, with even larger reductions (averaging 6mph) at two of the three sites studied. Table 3 shows the 85th percentile speeds, the posted speed limit being 40mph. Table 3: West Lothian 85th percentile speeds before and after scheme installation (speed limit at all locations 40mph) location before after cost £ Dechmont (shop) 41 35 96,000 (for both Dechmont schemes) Dechmont (east gateway) 42 38.5 A71 West Calder (Burngrange) 43.5 40.5 36,000 (for both A71 schemes) A71 West Calder (cemetery) 48 43 Pumpherston (south village) 41.5 35.5 84,000 (for both Pumpherston schemes) Pumpherston (primary school) 38.5 33.5 The Council notes that:
Contact: David Jarman Head of Strategic Planning and Transportation West Lothian Council County Buildings Linlithgow EH49 7EZ (tel: 01506 775 269) 4.3 Norfolk County Council interactive speed limit signs Since 1992 Norfolk County Council has trialled the use of interactive fibre optic speed limit signs in a number of villages. The County Council has pioneered techniques of signing to elicit desired responses from motorists while conserving the rural environment. These techniques include the development of interactive speed limit signs, redesigning the road environment to make drivers think more and designating a network of ‘Quiet Lanes’ which are signed in such a way as to discourage use by motorists. The first trial of interactive fibre optic signs, in the village of Scole, was to reinforce the existing 30mph speed limit, and was assessed through observation of speeds before and after installation. A year after installation the mean vehicle speed had been reduced by nearly 6mph, and the 85th percentile speed had been reduced by 8mph. Interactive speed limit signs have since been trialled in other locations in Norfolk (Traffic Engineering and Control, 2000). The sign legend is a 30/40mph roundel consisting of a pictogram formed by an illuminated red-coloured circle and white numbers on a black background, matched in size as nearly as possible to a 300mm roundel. The device is activated by any vehicle that exceeds a pre-set speed threshold, detected by a radar speed discrimination detector which is mounted on top of a pole carrying the sign. This threshold is set at 35mph for the sites with a 30mph limit and 45mph for the sites with a 40mph limit. When activated, the fibre optic roundels light up from within and two pairs of amber lights are illuminated alternately above and below the sign legend. The mean inbound speeds at all signs fell below the speed limit in all villages. There was some evidence of speed reductions in the 40mph speed limited village centres, but little evidence of any significant effect of the sign in the centres of the 30mph speed limited villages (although speeds here remained below the limit). The results from trials in six villages are illustrated in Table 4. Table 4: Norfolk villages: mean speeds before and after interactive sign installation by interactive sign in centre of village 30mph villages before after before after Acle 34.7 28.2 25.1 25.3 Horstead 33.5 28.9 21.2 21.6 Wells 31.4 28.2 25.2 24.4 Wroxham 31.4 29.4 30.2 29.1 40mph villages Carbrooke 40.7 37.6 40.3 37.7 Swaffham 39.7 35.5 33.4 31.5 The percentage of inbound vehicles exceeding the respective trigger speeds of 35mph and 45mph at the signs decreased considerably. The largest change was at Acle, from 55% before installation of the sign to 7% one year after. For the 30mph sites, the overall percentage of inbound vehicles exceeding the trigger speed at the signs changed from 36% to 7% one year after. (The latter figure compares very favourably with the national average of 36% of vehicles exceeding 35mph in 30mph restricted areas.)
Similar results from further trials have led Norfolk County Council to conclude that interactive fibre optic signs are most effective for inbound vehicles in the vicinity of the sign. A year after the installation of the ‘six village’ trial signs, statistically significant average reductions in the mean speed (-4.3mph) and 85th percentile speed (-5.9mph) of inbound vehicles were achieved, and there was a statistically significant reduction in the level of non-compliance with the speed limit. It appears that most drivers are embarrassed to trigger the sign (Farmer et al, 1998). The effectiveness of these vehicle-activated signs is acknowledged in the government’s Review of Speed Policy. Costing £6,000 each, they are also in high demand. So far Norfolk County Council has installed 80 of them. Contact: Norfolk County Council Planning and Transportation County Hall Norwich NR1 2SG (tel: 01603 222 143)
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