Communities are in-charge in keeping an eye out for their members. It is one of the highest acting societal entities that can police hazardous behaviors from individuals while positively reinforcing pro-social actions. One of the essential things that a community should monitor is its motorists.
It’s estimated that 90% of the American population owns a vehicle. These Americans are susceptible to the dangers of the road. An estimated 38,000 Americans die from road fatalities every year. Another 4 million are seriously injured from these accidents. It is part of the community’s job to keep their roads safe, especially from accidents. Here are some ways your community can help increase the safety of its motorists.
Keeping Traffic Signs Visible
Traffic signs are one of the most fundamental information on the road. It tells motorists various hazards, speed limits, and more. However, sometimes these traffic signs tend to be invisible to the naked eye. This can be the cause of degradation or poor placement.
It’s important that community members report any damaged traffic signs or can’t be seen from their location. Fixing these traffic signs and moving their location can certainly help many motorists avoid accidents. Furthermore, the community must educate its citizens regarding these traffic signs and their meaning. The community can hold seminars for children so they can be taught at a younger age. This will help them become responsible drivers in the future.
Defensive Driving Course
Defensive driving is a necessary course that every driver should take, and this course should be available in your community. Because of the pandemic, your citizens can find a state-approved defensive driving course online. These courses have the necessary materials from the physical driving course to teach them all about defensive driving. Defensive driving teaches driving skills to motorists to help them avoid collisions, drunk drivers, and other dangers on the road. It also teaches them what to do if they find themselves in danger.
Every driver in your community must undergo this course. It’s also essential that the community teaches them about this particular course and gives them the necessary resources to take the course. It will greatly improve the safety of many of the drivers in the community with little cost.
Committee for Traffic Rules and Regulations
The US government is in charge of the implementation of various traffic rules and regulations in the country. It is the community’s job to uphold these laws and keep its members educated about the possible changes of these laws. The community must make a committee responsible for upholding these traffic laws while also educating members about them.
Additionally, this community can do patrols around the city and keep a watchful eye for delinquent and drunk drivers. They can also look around for people in need of help due to a traffic incident. They can also be the ones in charge of keeping the road clear in cases of emergencies. This can keep the community proactively safe against any traffic accidents.
Improve Visibility
One of the leading reasons why people get into accidents is roads with low visibility. If there are reports that a road has little visibility in your community, it’s your job to increase its visibility through various means. Add new light sources if you can if it’s too dark. Suppose fog tends to accumulate on that particular road, place fog lights to keep the road visible.
You can also add signages regarding the dangers of that road so that people may know what’s waiting for them ahead and whether if they should turn back. Visibility is important for anyone who’s on the road. By increasing it, you can give many drivers the time to avoid accidents while out on the road.
Hand Out Leaflets Regarding Traffic Safety
Lastly, as a community, it’s your job to keep your citizens informed about traffic safety. Sometimes people forget how traffic safety is essential in their daily lives, even to those who don’t drive any vehicles. These leaflets can cover general traffic laws and universal ways to avoid accidents such as walking on the right side of the road. These can also contain universal signs and their meanings. Educating our members is one of the best ways we can avoid accidents.
By educating our community members about traffic safety, we can keep them out of harm’s way. Eventually, the things we have taught them can reach their children, who can pass on their knowledge of traffic safety to their own children. Promoting this healthy cycle can ensure that everyone in the community is safe against traffic accidents.