BISHOPVILLE, Md., June 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A combination of enforcement, engineering and public outreach successfully reduced speeding during a demonstration project aimed at testing solutions to one of the most persistent road safety problems.
During the pilot project on a rural road in Maryland, average speeds fell 9 percent and the odds that a vehicle on the road was speeding dropped by three-quarters. The effects largely faded once the measures were discontinued.
The multipronged effort on MD 367, a two-lane road in Bishopville on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, was supported by a $100,000 grant from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF). The three organizations partnered to fund and evaluate comprehensive speed management pilot programs in one rural and one urban location. The urban project, planned for Virginia, is expected to begin later this year.
“Road deaths have been climbing, and more than a quarter of them are connected to speeding,” says IIHS President David Harkey. “As this study shows, a practical, comprehensive approach to the problem can slow drivers down.”
The effort in Bishopville, described in detail in a report by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office, focused on a 2.4-mile section of the road that is a popular route for beachgoers in the summer months and…
