In collaboration with Sipronika and Zavarovalnica Triglav, the Municipality of Velike Lašče has installed an MHP50 'Your Speed' sign in the immediate vicinity of a school route on the road between Ljubljana and Kočevje. This will make conditions safer for the most vulnerable road users, nursery and primary school children, as well as other pedestrians. The speed display is part of the 'Calming Traffic Together' project in which, for the second year running, 12 municipalities around Slovenia are actively calming traffic in the vicinity of schools and nurseries, and along school routes, with the help of funding from Slovenia's biggest insurance company. The proportion of speeding drivers fell by eight percentage points in the first week of operation.

According to figures from the Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency, if we manage to reduce average speeds in built-up areas by 1 km/h, we help reduce accidents by 4% in those areas and by 2% outside those areas.As even small reductions in speed are key to preventing serious road accidents, traffic calming in residential areas, where pedestrians are most at risk, is one of the main elements of a preventive approach and an effective measure for reducing the number of road accidents.

The Calming Traffic Together project was proposed by Sipronika and is supported by Zavarovalnica Triglav and municipalities around Slovenia, among them the Municipality of Velike Lašče. A key aim of the project is to reduce the proportion of speeding drivers at selected dangerous sections of road, where pedestrians, especially the very youngest, are most at risk.In the 18 municipalities in which the speed indicators were installed last season, speeds at selected sections have fallen by an average of 2 km/h, with the proportion of speeding drivers also falling by around 4%.

Dangerous and busy road

The new speed indicator warns drivers to adjust their speed as they enter Velike Lašče. This is important for the local community, as the main road is also a school route used by young children every day. Part of the road prior to the entrance to Velike Lašče is an open road on which the speed limits are higher. As the speeds recorded upon entry into and through the town are often excessive, representatives of the municipality, in cooperation with the Road Safety Council, are making strenuous efforts to ensure that the most vulnerable road users are safe. 'We are devoting particular attention to the safety of school-age and pre-school children. Before the start of the new school year, we installed a speed indicator on part of the school route along the main road, in collaboration with Sipronika and Zavarovalnica Triglav. The new indicator will help to reduce speeds and increase road safety for everyone at the entrance to Velike Lašče,' said deputy mayor of the municipality Dr Tatjana Devjak, who added that residents could also study the measured speeds via the municipality's website.

Data from the speed indicator will also be used for teaching purposes at Primož Trubar primary school in Velike Lašče. The 'Your Speed' website, which collects the data, will be used as a resource for mathematics and physics homework. An LCD screen will also be installed in the school lobby; pupils will monitor the speeds and warn their parents to drive safely.

An innovative and effective solution

Speed indicators store and process data on traffic that can be viewed on the www.vi-vozite.si website. The system therefore constitutes an innovative and effective solution and an important tool for analysing data and determining future speed-reduction measures. 'The regional road between Ljubljana and Kočevje has heavy traffic, as one might expect, and the speed indicator has been installed at the entrance to Velike Lašče.Fairly high speeds have been recorded on the vi-vozite.si website, as drivers passing through Male Lašče enjoy good visibility and an open road. We are therefore asking those in positions of responsibility to analyse the data regularly and use it to introduce stricter traffic-calming measures,' explained Sipronika's director Marjan Kržišnik. The proportion of speeding drivers has fallen by eight percentage points since the display was installed, with the average speed falling by 1 km/h.

For a safer future

Zavarovalnica Triglav have been making efforts to increase road safety for everyone, and particularly the most vulnerable road users, for a number of years. 'Through tangible actions, Triglav is fulfilling its mission and creating a safer future. Based on the results of the last season of the project, we know that 'Your Speed' indicators are an effective way of calming traffic, which is why we have supported the installation of an indicator in Velike Lašče,' explained Aleš Klement, director of the Ljubljana Regional Office of Zavarovalnica Triglav.

In collaboration with Sipronika and Zavarovalnica Triglav, municipalities around the country have already installed MHP50 'Your Speed' displays at 30 dangerous sections of road.

Graph: Comparison of the distribution of measured speeds when the speed display was switched off (4-11 August 2017) and switched on (11-18 August 2017)

Graph: Comparison of the distribution of the speeds measured when the speed indicator was switched off and when it was switched on in Velike Lašče, where the speed limit is 50 km/h. The effect of the indicator has been a fall in the number of speeding drivers by eight percentage points.

Zavarovalnica Triglav dd published this content on 09 October 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 09 October 2017 11:19:01 UTC.

Original documenthttp://www.triglav.eu/en/media/news/09-10-2017_clamping-down-on-speeding-drivers-with-a-speed-indicator-in-velike-lasce

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