New signs illuminate speeder’s misdeeds

TRAFFIC SAFETY

The first three speed display boards have been installed within Leisure World to warn drivers traveling over the communitywide 25 miles-per-hour speed limit to slow down.

The signs are partly a response to chronic speeding within the community that endangers pedestrians and other vehicles along the speeder’s path. A large body of research has shown that display boards of this type have been effective in reducing vehicle speeds by 10 miles per hour. That is about the amount on average needed to reduce current traffic to below the speed limit.

The signs are controlled wirelessly and can store vehicle speeds in the cloud for later analysis to gauge effectiveness. These signs, along with strategically placed speed humps, are intended to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety but they can’t do that on their own. They need people to notice them and slow down.

On Nov. 22 at 2 p.m., I counted cars headed north on St. Andrews Drvie approaching the one currently working speed sign.

Over 45 minutes, I counted 130 cars in total and 60 of those cars (46%) were going in excess of the 25 miles per hour limit. The fastest was about 35 miles per hour.

There is a lot of work to do.

—Nick Massetti