The City of Chattanooga’s Police Department and Department of Transportation collaborated to address and change poor driver behavior so everyone traveling on Chattanooga roads can make it to their destinations safely.
To date in the Fiscal Year 2019 (July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019), Chattanooga Police have responded to crashes resulting in 32 fatalities. That’s double the number of fatal crashes for ALL of Fiscal Year 2018.
“Thirty-two is more than just a number,” said CPD Chief David Roddy. “Each of those fatalities represents a mother, a father, a son, a granddaughter, a wife who didn’t make it home to their families and is now missed by their many loved ones.”
Among those are our most vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians. “We should do everything possible to assure that all Chattanoogans can move around on our streets both comfortably and safely,” said CDOT Administrator Blythe Bailey.
The primary contributing factor in these fatal crashes is speed. Speed is a behavior that some drivers engage in without recognizing the risks or considering the consequences. This is the behavior the departments are working to change by executing the following engineering, education, and enforcement measures:
• Identify high-risk areas and projects to make improvements.
• Review traffic control devices to improve the visibility and clarity of the messaging.
• Review street lighting at each location.
• Provide drivers with information about travel speeds and safety issues associated with speeding.
• Increase drivers’ awareness of enforcement efforts designed to address speeding.
• Equip some marked police vehicles with moving radar units to determine that drivers of motor vehicles are complying with the legal posted speed limit.
CPD and CDOT have already begun implementing these measures to make traveling through Chattanooga safer for all users of the road.