ATS report highlights school zone safety

A report by American Traffic solutions (ATS), How to Help Eliminate Dangers of Traveling to and from School (and Keep Kids Safe), highlights the dangers children face as they travel to and from school and details some of the successes schools and cities are having with new solutions to both change driver behaviour and enhance student safety. Every year, on average, 100 children are killed and 25,000 are injured walking to and from school. Many of these tragedies can be attributed to drivers who are distr
August 29, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

A report by 17 American Traffic solutions (ATS), How to Help Eliminate Dangers of Traveling to and from School (and Keep Kids Safe), highlights the dangers children face as they travel to and from school and details some of the successes schools and cities are having with new solutions to both change driver behaviour and enhance student safety.

Every year, on average, 100 children are killed and 25,000 are injured walking to and from school. Many of these tragedies can be attributed to drivers who are distracted, speeding through school zones or illegally passing stopped school buses as children move toward or away from the bus. Enforcing traffic laws can help reduce these hazards, but the demands on officers make it impossible for them to maintain a constant presence on school buses and in school zones on a daily basis.

According to the ATS report, automated enforcement is a proven deterrent to excessive speeding in school zones and the practice of illegally passing school buses that are stopped to let children on or off.

The report claims: In Des Moines, WA, the number of motorists speeding in front of Woodmont Elementary School decreased by 82 per cent in the first six months of the city’s school zone speed safety camera program; The city of Seattle has seen a 27 per cent reduction in the number of violations issued since their school zone speed safety camera program started in December 2012; In Georgia, the state with highest number of school bus passing violations in the US, ATS’ CrossingGuard school bus stop arm safety cameras are reducing the threat to children from illegal passes. Violations decreased between 42 and 50 per cent in three areas after cameras were installed on buses to record illegal passes.

“This report should help remind all of us of the persistent dangers that students face,” said Charles Territo, ATS Senior President of Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs. “Around the country law enforcement and school districts are looking for new ways to increase student safety. We’re proud of how our school zone speed cameras and school bus stop arm safety solutions are helping keep children safe every day.”

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Siemens Mobility is clearing the air
    October 2, 2020
    Tens of thousands of premature deaths in the UK alone are linked to air quality - but it doesn’t have to be that way. Siemens Mobility’s Wilke Reints explains why
    Read More
  • London needs just one road user charge, says report
    July 8, 2019
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London
    Read More
  • Measuring the effectiveness of winter VMS
    August 5, 2013
    A survey into the effectiveness of weather-related variable message signs on a trans-mountain highway has some interesting results, as Alexis Bacelar told ITS Europe. A study in the Massif Central region of France evaluating the usefulness of winter weather warning signs has highlighted the effect of variable message signs on driver behaviour. During the winter of 2009-2010, road operator Massif Central Direction Interdépartementale des Routes (MC DIR) started installing bad weather-specific variable messag
    Read More
  • New addition to Tasmania's road safety strategy
    January 9, 2015
    In a bid to reduce road casualties, the Tasmanian Government is installing eight new fixed speed camera sites across the State, adding an extra dimension to its key road safety focus on safer speeds. Police Minister Rene Hidding said the new camera system, which has been approved in consultation with the Road Safety Advisory Council, will complement the existing sites on the Tasman Bridge. The project will be implemented by Tasmania Police and will be funded with US$382,000 from the Road Safety Levy.
    Read More

Highlighted Content