How to Reduce Traffic Accidents

  • Make the streets narrower, reducing lanes from twelve feet wide to ten. This seems like it would make things wore, but the opposite is true. Having less lane room will force drivers to be more focused.
  • Avoid adding wider turn lanes, especially ones that allow drivers to make right turns away from the stoplight. The easier traffic can make turns, the less attentive drivers are, and the more likely they are to cause accidents.
  • Allow cars to park at the curb. A row of parked cars along the edge will make people drive city streets as cautiously as neighborhood roads. It will also make sidewalks safer for pedestrians by creating a buffer.
  • Design unconventional intersections. The standard four-way crossroads designed by the D.O.T. have the most number of traffic accidents. A three-way intersection or terminated vista will cause drivers to slow down and pay more attention.

  • Put speed bumps along intersections. Drivers will be forced to reduce speed rather than speed up to beat a changing stoplight. Speeding through intersections and running red lights are among the biggest cause of traffic accidents.

  • Consider removing traffic lights altogether. Many feel the lights cause more accidents my making drivers watch the lights instead of the streets while giving them a feeling of “right of way.” Removing the lights would force them to pay attention and yield every time.