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.