“Drive 25” campaigns are community-driven efforts to encourage slower driving speeds through initiatives such as one-on-one outreach, targeted public events and partnering with local residents, officials and businesses.

 

Why are these campaigns valuable or even necessary? The answer is simple: encouraging safe behaviors by both drivers and pedestrians has helped to reduce pedestrian fatalities due to motor vehicles by nearly 85 percent nationally since 1975.

 

While that is good news, concentrating on the road isn’t getting any easier for motorists. Cell phones offer great convenience, but making or taking calls, as well as text messaging distracts drivers and is against New Jersey law. Many vehicles have grown in size, making it harder to see what’s ahead of or behind us on the roadway. DVD players in the car may keep the kids entertained, but lure our senses away from the road.

 

Although pedestrian deaths have declined significantly over the long term, there was a slight increase from 2003 to 2004. Other statistics, such as those below, demonstrate the need for campaigns like Drive 25, which encourage drivers to slow down.

 

• According to statistics from the U.S. Department of

Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics, over 11% of all traffic-related fatalities in the United States were pedestrians.  Children under the age of 15 represented nearly 20% of these fatalities, and adults over the age of 65 another 20%. In New Jersey, pedestrians accounted for a substantially higher proportion of all traffic-related fatalities (21%) of which nearly 18% occurred in 30 mph zones. 

• Nearly a third (30.5%) of all accidents involving only one vehicle occurred at speeds under 40 mph; over a third of those occurred at speeds under 30 mph.
• A study by the United Kingdom Department of Environment and Transportation estimated that 5% of pedestrians would perish if struck by a vehicle traveling under 20 miles per hour. The odds of a fatality multiply to 40% for vehicles traveling 30 mph and further double to 80% at 40 mph.
• Statistically, urban areas are the most dangerous for pedestrians, despite the slower posted driving speeds.

 

"Drive 25" Campaigns
As in many states, the legal speed limit in New Jersey for “school zones, business or residential districts” is 25 mph, increasing to 35 mph in “suburban business and residential districts.” These two speed limits often present difficulties when the