To the Editor:

As students return to school, it is more important than ever to drive carefully. We should also be thinking of ways that we, as a community, can encourage safer driving—especially respect for the speed limit.

Speeding is a factor in 1 in 5 car accidents that result in injury or death, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Studies, and common sense, show that speed reduces the time that a driver has to react, increases the distance needed to stop a vehicle and increases the crash energy exponentially.

There will always be a place for vigorous enforcement of the rules of the road. But education should also play a role in our community’s efforts to encourage safe driving—especially because it can prevent speeding before it happens. The grassroots, citizens-led campaign, Slowdown Croton, has done a lot to remind residents of the importance of driving slowly in a residential community with children, pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists.

One measure which Trustee Kevin Davis proposed, and that I think the village government should continue to explore, is increased use of speed display devices that show drivers how fast they are going and encourage them to slow down. Of course these signs will have to be used in a way that respects our visual environment and complimented by other public education efforts. But in our fast-paced world, in my experience most drivers, myself included, could benefit from such a reminder.

Sincerely,

Brian Pugh
Democrat for Village Trustee