Traffic accidents occur daily. While many are minor and nothing more than an inconvenience, there are still those that are catastrophic and change the lives of those involved forever. Everyone on the road has to do their part to avoid accidents, but there are also things that transportation agencies can do to help increase safety.
The U.S. Department of Transportation explains that transportation agencies at the state and local levels can implement different programs, procedures and policies that will help to make roads a little safer and reduce the chances of accidents. Agencies can start with promoting safer driving habits within the community, improving traffic flow to destinations and designing safer roadways.
Encouraging safe behavior
You have probably already witnessed campaigns to help people understand the dangers of bad driving habits, such as drinking and driving, distracted driving and speeding. These programs can make an impact. Of course, it all comes down to each individual driver making good decisions, but such campaigns at least make people aware.
Providing easy access
When developing business areas, a local agency should consider traffic flow. It should make sure that when you try to get to a local business that you have an easy time doing so and there is not anything that could potentially cause accidents. This includes making intersections safer and creating turn lanes to avoid traffic jams.
Making safer roads
Lastly, transportation agencies can design roadways to be safer. For example, they can add in a stop sign at a bad intersection or create a bike lane on a road popular with cyclists. The design of roads can also be in a way that makes speeding more difficult.