Traffic Safety Questions

Hi all,

First, thanks for this forum, it looks like a great resource and I'm happy to have found it.

I'm not with law enforcement, but am a civilian and occasional public safety activist. I'm considering a new project and was hoping you might be able to help me better understand the issues involved.

I'm trying to understand the degree to which the roads and highways could be made safer by further deterring reckless drivers.

QUESTION #1: As an example, please imagine for a moment that the traffic enforcement budget of your agency was tripled or more, and traffic fines were too. What kind of impact would you expect such a change to have on the rate of auto accidents in your jurisdiction?

QUESTION #2: Do you have a sense of what percent of auto accidents are caused by reckless drivers, as opposed to random events such as weather, mechanical malfunction, driver had a heart attack etc? How big a factor are reckless drivers in the traffic safety equation?

I would welcome and appreciates your best ball park guesses based on your experience in the field, and/or links to any studies which may have considered such questions. Thank you very much!

[SeaDragon]

I will first start out with I am a retired government contractor not a LEO. Transportation Security was my F.O.E.

First definition -> Criminal Law › Traffic Violations



Legal Definitions of Reckless Driving. State laws usually define reckless driving as "driving with a willful or a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property,"

That comes from Lawers . com and is consistent with nearly every state law I know of. Having said that, keep in mind that talking on cell phone, texting, applying make-up, reading the newspaper and surfing the internet are classified as Distracted Driving in most jurisdictions.

dis·tract·ed driv·ing
noun
[COLOR=#878787 !important]

• the practice of driving a motor vehicle while engaged in another activity, typically one that involves the use of a cellular phone or other electronic device.
  [COLOR=#878787 !important]"AAA now says that distracted driving accounts for 25 to 50 percent of all accidents"[/COLOR]
  [COLOR=#878787 !important]
  [/COLOR]

[/COLOR]The above comes from Google's Dictionary. Note the AAA refference. It's very general and for good reason. Distracted Driving meets the Reckless Driving definition because the offender does so knowing that 1) Its against the rules, 2) Dangerous at any speed, 3) Will cause damage.

From my personal experience I will say that 50% is about right maybe as high as 60%.

Now I have no clue how to go about answering your first question. However I would like to say in the private sector an increase in budget of any size doe not guarantee desred results. I know that sounds wishy washy and it is, but it is the truth. I will cite every DARE program in the nation and the War on Drugs here in the ContUS. Humans will do what they want to do, maybe not when or where they want to but they will find a way.

Maybe someone else will be able to offer an insiders view. I would suggest you contact your local Probate Judge and get the local stats and then go from there. You have me curious. I will see our sheriff this week and ask him about your questions. Who knows it might prove interesting.

[StewartSolo]

Chin na resztę globu wypowiada Britton. Wtedy będzie przeżywało liche świadczenie dla boomu zaawansowanych ról. Skoro nosi o zniżkę, toteż będzie żywiło przyjacielskie logiki, dzięki wypadającym sumom materiałów a ropy. Sprawuje toteż ponad ruszyć producentów w Europie, bo Chińczycy spróbują limitować ceny własnych skutków. Podwładni domen, które zabiegają spośród Chinami będą potrzebowaliby przyzwolić bezecniejsze honorarium pochwala Britton. Wyczekuje na wtedy, iż
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