海角社区官网

Improving road design: This is a big catch-all, but many people have been touting the strategy of 鈥渃omplete streets鈥� which are roads that are designed to be safe for all users; pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.

Ford mentioned roundabouts 鈥� circular intersections that cars can move through 鈥� a tool that is much more popular in Europe and is starting to show up in more places in Ontario. There are also measures like chicanes 鈥� curves in roads 鈥� to help slow traffic, which are also used in Toronto.

The only issue with improving road design is that it鈥檚 best to do on newer or planned streets before they are built, as anything done to improve an existing road will also disrupt traffic.聽

Speed Bumps: One solution is putting in speed bumps (taller, bigger hills) or speed humps (which are lower and wider) on streets, and while they are effective, they really aren鈥檛 meant to be used on main or arterial streets. They are a solution best left to less travelled or residential streets. They are one solution that is absolutely effective, if you care at all about the bottom of your car.

In Sweden there is a solution that combines speed radar and bumps, called the Actibump. This is sort of a reverse speed bump, where there is a surface panel on the road, and if you are going an appropriate speed, the road remains the same, but if you are speeding, the Actibump lowers causing the speeder to feel the drop in the road.

One good thing about this solution is that it rewards good behaviour, while only targeting speeders. This a smart traffic solution that touts itself as 鈥渁 friendly reminder 鈥� for speeders鈥� only and claims to slow 99 per cent of speeding. They require more maintenance than regular speed bumps, and it also makes use of speed cameras, so they may not be permitted under upcoming legislation.

Instead of fines, more diversionary punishment: While speed camera tickets cause fines, they do not come with any deduction in driving demerit points, so they are already another class of ticket. While some drivers question how fair they are, in other jurisdictions like the U.K., if a driver has not received a ticket in three years, rather than pay the fine they can take a speed awareness course. If the goal is to reduce speed, then this education option 鈥� which usually involves graphic images of what high rates of speed can do in a crash 鈥� should be something that could be considered.

More human enforcement: One of the knocks on speed cameras is that they are unthinking machines that cannot make judgment calls about when to issue tickets, so one solution we will likely see is traffic enforcement moving back to the authorities. A police officer with a radar gun was already seen on Parkside Drive, and 海角社区官网police have said they will step up enforcement in areas of the city where speed cameras were taken down. Although some question whether it’s a good use of police resources.

Technology that limits drivers ability to speed: This is called Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) and it comes in a few forms. It’s technology built into cars that can warn drivers they are going over the speed limit and potentially slow them down. In it’s current form, however, the driver can override the limiter by accelerating.

One iteration makes a warning sound when speeding or notifying the driver with a vibration through the steering wheel. It can also take a more active role, with versions that use haptic feedback through the accelerator pedal 鈥� if you are above the speed limit, the pedal pushes back against your foot 鈥� or it can automatically slow the car down.

The European Union has already mandated that all newly designed passenger vehicles are required to have some kind of ISA system. Transport Canada has been researching ISA for possible implementation here.聽