Illuminated Signs, Demerit Points & School Zone Safety
Despite the roll-out of new illuminated speed signs in NSW school zones, more people lost their licences for speeding in school zones in 2008 than in 2007. This suggests that despite the higher demerit penalties imposed, the new signs aren’t doing what is expected of them.
In response to the increase in lost licences, NSW Roads Minister, the Honourable Michael Daley, has announced softer penalties for speeding drivers who commit the lowest range offence (0-10km/h over the speed limit). But if school zone signs remain insufficiently effective, what implications does that lessened deterrent have for pedestrian safety, especially considering the difference between 40kph and 50kph can be the difference between life and death?
An Australian developed ‘supplementary driver warning system’ called SafeZone addresses the very heart of the problem, which is the need to effectively change driver behaviour in order to get people to more intuitively and reliably SLOW DOWN.
SafeZone elicits a more effective response in drivers by creating a flashing ‘runway’ effect for the entire length of an active school zone. Because it comprises many flashing lights, placed where they simply can’t be missed – down the lane markers rather than off to the side or over the road - it’s also more likely to be seen. Unlike other systems, which can be missed because they’re not in a driver’s immediate field of vision, or can be obscured by trucks or trees, or as a result of poor visibility, the SafeZone in-road beacon system clearly indicates not only where a zone begins and ends, but that a driver is still in an active zone. Better still, it has high levels of redundancy and is relatively inexpensive to install. In short, SafeZone addresses all the behavioural and logistical issues that make it the warning solution road authorities have been looking for.
The NSW Government’s current school zone warning project, a four year programme to roll out 400 road-side and over-road flashing lights at a cost of $46.5m, has been funded by revenues from speed cameras. But as revenues continue to rise and as more drivers lose their licences for speeding, the problem remains that drivers have simply become desensitised to the current strategy being adopted with the state’s 11,000 school zones. Very simply, a better, more intuitive approach is needed to deliver the major safety benefits that the community expects.
