Arizona News – The Arizona Department of Transportation is seeking public input on a proposed update to its Strategic Highway Safety Plan and a draft of the state’s first Active Transportation Safety Action Plan, which aims to reduce pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities where those activities intersect with the state highway system.
Both proposals are available for review at azdot.gov/SafetyPlan. Comments are welcome through Friday, Sept. 6.
Federal regulations require each state to have a Strategic Highway Safety Plan for reducing fatalities and serious injuries on public roadways and to update that plan every five years. ADOT leads development of this plan in partnership with local, state, federal and other stakeholders so that all highway safety programs can leverage resources and work together effectively to enhance safety.
The proposed Strategic Highway Safety Plan update, developed after a series of public meetings earlier this year, focuses on the following emphasis areas that account for a large percentage of life-altering crashes in Arizona: human behavior; intersections; lane departure; vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists; and incidents on tribal lands.
ADOT and its partners propose dozens of strategies based on public and stakeholder input, data analysis, and previously completed research and planning. These include:
- improving visibility of vulnerable road users, all other users and roadway features;
- incorporating vulnerable road users more prominently in the planning, design and programming process;
- reducing high-risk movements by drivers;
- conducting high-visibility enforcement at intersections; and
- promoting safety at crash scenes.
The proposed update is based on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Safe System Approach, which looks at all factors affecting safety and emphasizes a shared responsibility for improving safety on roadways.
ADOT and its partners also are developing Arizona’s first Active Transportation Safety Action Plan to address a rise in pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities in Arizona, the vast majority of which occur on local roadways. This proposal recommends location-specific projects along the state highway system aimed at improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
You also can provide input on both proposals through Friday, Sept. 6, in these ways:
- Complete an online survey at: azdot.gov/SafetyPlanComments
- Email: ngbecerra@azdot.gov
- Call the bilingual phone line: 855.712.8530
- Mail: ADOT SHSP & ATSAP, 1655 W. Jackson St., MD 126F, Phoenix, AZ 85007
For more information, please visit azdot.gov/SafetyPlan.
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4 Comments
Welcome to the Jerseyfication of Arizona! Some of the proposals:
» Increase focus on eliminating cell phone usage while
driving.
In other words, more babble and stupid signs. Unlikely to change anyone’s behavior.
» Require additional education and testing for new and
older drivers.
In other words, welcome to time-wasting trips to the DMV for all of us older drivers. (BTW, the AZ DMV offices are surprisingly well run and efficient! But it’s still a nuisance.)
» Require periodic vehicle safety inspections as part of
vehicle registration and renewal.
In other words, long lines at new and expensive inspection stations.
» Better define and regulate e-bikes, e-scooters and
other micromobility devices.
Bureaucracy and more regulation. If you want to see how well this will work, just take a walk on New York City sidewalks.
» Allow flexibility for automated enforcement where
appropriate and permitted by law..
Welcome to speed cameras, which will increase inhomogeneous traffic flow and probably increase accidents.
» Allocate funding specific to safety improvements.
In other words, higher taxes and/or registration fees.
I may sound cranky, but driving in Arizona has been a relative pleasure compared to my life back east. I’m not sure any of the proposals will solve real problems or enhance safety in any significant way. OTOH, my only real qualification to comment is remaining extant and unbroken after decades of commuting.
If you’re eager to respond to the survey, be sure to get your responses in by last Friday, 23 August, three days before this was published.
“Require periodic vehicle safety inspections as part of
vehicle registration and renewal.
In other words, long lines at new and expensive inspection stations”
100% for this. There are far too many physically unsafe (missing bumpers or jagged bumpers sticking out from them)and purposefully loud annoying vehicles (that have illegally purposely removed catalytic converters, mufflers or have illegal cut off built in) on the road here. Both are illegal here under current traffic laws but rarely if ever enforced. Mandatory vehicle inspections would put an end to both. I’ve seen old cars with no doors or windows driving on the freeways here.
Don’t agree that inspections should be costly. In fact they should be free with proof of current insurance and registration. Most states I’ve lived in have been this way and the only thing that was costly was what it cost to repair the things necessary to make a junker road worthy that was deemed unsafe through inspection.
Regarding this subject, I would put education to bikers coupled with safety enforcement as the priority. There is nothing wise about riding a bike where there is traffic unless it is absolutely necessary, and if it necessary as the only way to get to work, for instance, the biker needs to use extreme caution. A biker can wear fluorescent clothing–a simple vest, for instance–or be required to install very brightly flashing lights on their bikes if driving near traffic is anticipated. Or they can shift into walking the bike as a pedestrian until they are away from an area of traffic. Exercise enthusiasts can engage common sense and ride where there is less traffic in neighborhoods or in the country.
The vast majority of drivers is under the influence of something if that includes prescriptions that alters their natural condition, and they really can’t be counted on as the main party to consider as the end all solution when interacting with bikers. Add to that the collective chaos that keeps people more and more distracted. The responsibility of keeping themself safe falls to the biker for self-preservation.
Some of those bikers are using one substance or another as well.