A new map from the driving behavior analytics company Zendrive can give you a better of how dangerous the drivers are around a specific school. The Zendrive mobile app tracks driver behaviors such as speeding, hard stops, and usage of mobile devices. “Using our driving safety analytics technology, we mapped out areas around 75,000 schools nationwide and analyzed over 3.4 billion driver miles driven within them,” Zendrive reports. Overall, the tean found that students at urban schools tend to be more exposed to dangerous driving behaviors. See the StreetsBlog USA article at: https://bit.ly/2qavpUb

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released Reducing Speeding-Related Crashes Involving Passenger Vehicles, its full examination of the causes of and trends in speeding-related passenger vehicle crashes. It focuses on five safety issues that pertain to effective countermeasures for speeding: speed limits, data-driven approaches for speed enforcement, automated speed enforcement, intelligent speed adaptation, and national leadership. Download: https://bit.ly/2uPpnwJ  (.pdf)

A new traffic safety paradigm is changing how planning professionals measure traffic risks and evaluate potential safety strategies. A report covering the approach has been released by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute (VTPI). It recognizes that all vehicle travel imposes risks, so planning decisions that increase vehicle travel tend to increase crashes, and vehicle travel reduction strategies increase traffic safety. It also recognizes that it is infeasible to reduce high-risk driving without providing viable alternatives. This expands the range of potential traffic safety strategies to include multi-modal planning, transportation demand management, and Smart Growth policies. See: The New Traffic Safety Paradigm. (pdf) https://bit.ly/2IzvasV

Before leaving his post as Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx issued a regulation that could, if implemented, profoundly affect surface transportation: The National Performance Management Measures; Assessing Performance of the National Highway System, Freight Movement on the Interstate System, and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. The regulation made several changes that help broaden the types of travel that states have to consider. First, both the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) rule now include consideration of reduction in CO2 emissions caused by the highway system. Second, the NHPP measure now considers “person-miles” traveled, rather than just vehicle miles traveled. Third, the CMAQ performance rule includes a measure of how many people travel by modes other than a single-occupancy vehicle.

With the new rule, FHWA is looking to transportation planners on the state level and in major metropolitan areas to consider all types of travel as they attempt to relieve traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. See:  https://bit.ly/2qcKHHp

BBC News reports that villagers, including school children, in Hopeman, Scotland, are wearing fluorescent vests and pointing hairdryers at cars to mimic police using speed cameras to deter fast drivers. Some drivers are reaching speeds of up to 60mph as they travel through the area. The resident’s actions have caught the attention of the police, who say they are addressing the situation. https://bbc.in/2lL8s8L