Description:

Targeted speed enforcement is a tool to reduce unsafe speeds and driver behavior. “Targeted” implies selectivity when choosing a focus location, typically where high speeds coincide with high non-auto volumes, such as within a downtown area or within a school zone. Enforcement can be performed through the use of a portable speed radar device that measures and displays a motorist’s speed, or the physical presence of a police officer at the location.

Advantages:

•    Reducing speeding.

•    Enhances pedestrian and bicycle safety.

•    Low cost and fast to implement.

Disadvantages:

•    Localized benefits.

•    Little or no lasting benefit once removed.

•    Based on compliance with speed limit, not the desired operating speed of the street.

•    Enforcement is not zero tolerance and depends on officer’s discretion.

•    Community members may be angry when they themselves receive citations and may demand neighborhood enforcement to cease.

Suitable:

•    School Zones.

•    Residential and Collector Streets.

•    Locations with significant non-auto volume.