Preventable Crashes
Rather than making our streets safer in the first place, some
of the past traffic safety philosophy was based on mitigating injuries,
ineffectual at best amoral at worst - safe crashing versus less
crashing. Today, traffic engineers are seeking funding support to
conduct road safety audits on existing roads, and for new roads
that are under design, so that a higher level of crash reduction
techniques are identified and implemented. Both Lee County and Collier
County are conducting Road Safety Audits.
We continue to build roads that are designed for speeds far greater than the posted speed limits even though speeding is viewed as one of the most serious causes of crashes.
A prime example is Lee Boulevard, which was the location of a fatality in 2006 where a young man traveling at an extremely high rate of speed lost his life after he collided with a school bus. The impact was severe enough to cause the bus to roll over on its side.
Experts suggest installing cameras at intersections to photograph the license plate of the violators and their recommendations are met with resistance. On the other hand, complaints continue to mount about the increasing number of drivers who run red lights. Without a change in state legislation, cameras will not be installed to reduce the number of violators.
Almost everyone knows an individual or family member whose life has been forever altered as the result of a crash, yet rarely are motor-vehicle operators held accountable for the deaths or injuries they have caused.
In December 2005 a crash on U.S. 41 claimed the lives of four young people. The driver walked away with a speeding ticket, and continued to rack up citations in the months following the crash, while the families and friends of the victims carry the emotional scares forever.
Most crashes according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) are a direct result of dangerous and irresponsible driving. Thus they are preventable.