“Killed by a Traffic Engineer,” emphasizes the importance of exposure (the distance and speed that people drive) as a risk factor. Transportation planning practices that prioritize speed over other goals result in additional crashes. And vehicle travel reductions yield safety benefits. A new traffic safety paradigm recognizes these relationships. In doing so, it recognizes transportation demand management (TDM) programs as a traffic safety strategy.
This is a timely issue. Many jurisdictions are establishing vehicle travel reduction targets and implementing TDM strategies. But they justify these policies primarily as a way to reduce congestion and pollution emissions. They often overlook and undervalue the safety benefits. This blog describes why and how transportation practitioners should apply this new paradigm. More comprehensive analysis of these benefits could justify much more TDM. |