City Council - Regular Meeting

Bonjour. Bienvenue à notre réunion communautaire mensuelle qui se tient le quatrième mercredi du mois à midi. Je suis la chef Coline Jacob. Lors de ces réunions, nous abordons des sujets qui vous tiennent à cœur. Nous discutons de ces sujets et répondons à vos questions. Si vous avez des questions sur le sujet que nous abordons, n'hésitez pas à nous les poser dans la section commentaires. Notre sujet du jour est la sécurité de nos rues. The safety of the streets is essential to the prosperity of our community. Today's discussion is about how we can work together to make our roads safer for everyone. Today, we welcome Lieutenant Bill Merritt and Agent Brady Fawcett from our traffic unit. They are here to share their ideas and solutions to reduce accidents, prevent the disrespect of red lights and improve the safety of all those who circulate in our streets. Do not forget that if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask them in the comments and we will do our best to answer them. Gentlemen, what are the main road safety problems that drivers currently see in our communities?

I would say that wheel distraction is a major problem. People are constantly on their mobile phones. They send texts, they scroll through the pages, they are on social networks, they listen to the radio. It is a major problem that we have noticed on the roads. Another major problem would certainly be the excessive speed. It is one of the main causes of deadly and serious accidents today.

Yes, and I noticed that I spent a lot of time burning the red lights while driving my own car.

Absolutely. This is also a major problem.

What does the speed of safety really mean and why is it more than simply respecting the speed limit displayed?

You know, the most often the speed limit displayed will be the safety speed. It is the speed that has been considered appropriate for this particular area. But of course, there are times when they would be more sure to drive below the speed limit, the speed limit displayed. In unfavorable weather conditions, if visibility is limited or if the roads are icy, you should not drive at 64 kmh. In an area of ​​64 kmh, You should rather reduce your speed until you feel safe, that you can keep control of your vehicle and that you can ensure your safety and that of others. Another situation could be when you arrive in a residential neighborhood on a beautiful summer day and you see children everywhere. They are playing in the front gardens Personally, I would reduce my own speed just to have a little more reaction time in case one of them would launch in the street. But most often, it will be the speed limit displayed. There is a reason why they chose this speed.

Yes, and I have others that I think are in the streets where there are dams. If you continue at the indicated speed, you will hit the bottom of your car.

Suffering.

And then at the time when I was driving a motorhome, like these yellow signs that indicated the speed limit, a counsellor in the corners, they were there for a reason.

Okay. What is the biggest false idea that drivers have about speed limits?

I think that the biggest false idea that people have about speed limits is that they think they are saving time. They think they will arrive faster somewhere. And in reality, what really happens is that they only gain a few minutes and at the same time, what they do is increase the probability of a major accident by doing that. They will increase that and they could have a serious or even fatal accident because of that.

And how many times have you been at a red light, it went green, the car started and then you were both found at the red light at the next intersection? It makes me laugh every time. What difference can 5 or 10 mile per hour make in terms of stopping distance, accident severity and chance of survival?

Many people don't realize that driving at 8 km per hour can make a significant difference. In fact, I brought some statistics with me today and it would be the ideal time to move on to those from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, also known as NHTSA. The first one I want to examine is entitled A child hits a road. These statistics are presented in the form of scenarios. The scenario is as follows. You are driving in a residential neighborhood at 40 km and a child is running in front of you at about 18 meters. Le temps de réaction d'une personne moyenne étant d'une seconde et demie si vous roulez à 40 km heure et qu'un enfant court devant vous à 18 mètres, vous vous arrêterez juste avant de percuter. Now, this is where the essential resides. You hit him with only 8 kmh. You are now driving at 48 kmh in this residential quarter. Same scenario, but it ends very differently. You are now going to hit a child who is driving at 30 kmh. And that's more than enough speed to seriously injure or even kill this child. And the faster we drive, the worse it gets. At 56 kmh, you hit the child who is driving at 42 kmh. You see where I want to come from. Speed. Most people don't realize how much it can affect survival. It can affect the severity of the accident. In fact, the following statistic that I wanted to show you from NHTSA was the total stop distance. Let's take for example the speed that we have on the Mountain View corridor in West Valley City. 105 kmh. Most people will be able to stop their vehicle at 105 kmh in a little more than 106 meters. It's if you have good tires on your car, if your brakes work properly and if the road conditions are ideal. They are dry, there is no debris on them. And you be careful.

And you be careful, it's true.

So a little more than 350 feet. And you could say to yourself, well, that doesn't look very serious. And for most of you, you're right. But there are a lot of damage and destruction that can happen at 350 feet. We must therefore be very aware of the speed at which we are driving and understand that, once again, these limitations of speed displayed are there for a reason.

Yeah, so no matter if it's low or high speed. Just 5 or 10 miles per hour can make a huge difference.

A significant difference. And we constantly see that when we stop cars, we see that people are driving more and more at 15 to 20 miles per hour above the speed limit for which we stop people. Not only 5 or 10 miles per hour. And we constantly see cars driving in a very unpretentious way. Their speed is much higher than the speed limit.

We mentioned the fact of lighting red lights. Why do drivers light red lights and what are the most common consequences?

I think people light red lights because a they are distracted, b they are impatient, they try to go to work, no matter where they want to go, it's the most important thing, they have to get there. People don't pay attention and these are some of the main causes of distraction. The consequence that you will see is obviously that you will have a contact with an agent and that you will receive a warning and a contravention. Another important consequence that you will suffer is that you could cause a serious accident, even death.

Of course. Yes, we see a lot of very serious accidents due to violations of red lights. So what does each agent want a driver to understand about yellow lights and security at intersections?

Intersections are one of the scariest and most dangerous places on the road.

A lot of things can happen at an intersection.

And a yellow light does not mean that you have to walk on it and try to pass before it turns red.

A yellow light is designed so that people can stop safely.

A warning signal so that people can stop safely at a light.

Yes, it's a major state of mind transition that really has to happen. It's not about knowing if I can go before the fire. It's more about knowing if I can stop in any situation. Given situations where a few extra kilometers per hour make the difference between an accident avoided by justice and a tragedy.

Absolutely. We are constantly investigating accidents. In accidents, speed is a major factor. And that's not worth it. The difference between a tragedy and an accident and justice is just a few seconds. There can be so many things in a few seconds. One thing I noticed in my own neighborhood, it's these little miniature motorcycles that live in our residential streets.

If people cross their neighborhood in a car and ride at full speed, when these little bikes pass in front of them, they have no time to react and that could be really tragic.

Well, often, as you said, these miniature bikes don't have much training on the road or what they should do. And that could be a serious accident, especially if they don't wear a helmet and things like that.

What is the role of distraction in the overspeed and infractions in the red lights?

It's an important role. Distracted people do a lot of harm, potentially. I have a funny story that comes to mind. A few years ago, I was driving on the I215 in my car, a car overtook me so quickly that my car was shaken. Je me suis mis derrière lui et j'ai dépassé cette personne à 110 mètres fort. J'ai donc arrêté la voiture. Je me suis approché et j'ai demandé au conducteur « Pourquoi conduisez-vous si vite ? » Au début, il avait l'air confus. Puis il s'est penché vers le siège passager de sa voiture, a pris son téléphone, me l'a montré et a dit « Je suis désolé, je n'avais pas réalisé que je roulais trop vite. » Je vérifiais mes e-mails. It's a real story. It's an extreme example, isn't it? It's an extreme example of people who don't pay attention and who can end up rolling too fast. But what is important to understand is that the human brain is unable to focus on two things at the same time. So if you adjust your radio, if you see or answer a text, if you reach out to the back bench to take something, your attention is shared. and your chances of being involved in an accident increase exponentially when your attention is shared. So, absolutely, it plays a huge role in excesses of speed, red lights and in almost all other types of road infractions that you can see. Road infractions are often caused by distraction.

Yes, it's incredible what you sometimes see. Not so long ago, I was on the I-215 and this motorcycle overtook me at full speed. Then she found herself on my way and quickly reached 80 kmh. So I surrounded her and it was the motorbike on her phone. I couldn't believe it. It looks so dangerous.

Yes, absolutely.

But he didn't regulate his speed because he was focused on his phone. So, what is the road safety habit that each driver could adopt today to make our roads safer?

I think that when someone drives a motor vehicle, he must make it his priority. And Agent Foss makes a little allusion to that, to distraction. We talked a lot about it today. When you drive your car, that's what you should do. You shouldn't do all these other different tasks. I understand that they are important, but do your best to take care of them before or after driving, not during. Everyone is distracted. The police are distracted. There are a lot of things in our cars that can distract us. But we must once again remind ourselves that we cannot focus on two things at the same time. No matter how talented you think you are for multitasking, to pay attention to two or three different things at the same time, you are not as talented as you think. No one is. And so that would be my only recommendation. Make it your absolute priority. Focus on driving.

And realistically, in our time, with technology, all phones. Can't all phones be configured so that if you drive, they don't even make you want to drive, they don't warn you of anything as long as you're not stopped?

Absolutely.

My wife would be so helpful if people could do that.

Yes, absolutely, it would be necessary.

Just eliminate the temptation, right?

So what message would you like the public to hear the most about the excesses of speed, the disrespect of red lights and the fact of going home safely?

I would say that a few seconds are not worth a whole life of consequences. Put down your phone, don't drive in distress. and help everyone to go home safely. Go home to your family. Do your part not to drive while being distracted. Okay.

Ness is another security issue that is related to the forces of order, but one of the concepts and what is important now is Kant, isn't it? What is important now? Right now, it's driving. Right now, it's going home safely, isn't it? Let's see what kind of questions we have. Oh, we have several. Let's see. Carole asks, what can I do against the excesses of speed in the streets of my neighborhood?

It's a good question and we often receive this kind of complaint.

And this can be a mixture of the unit of traffic and the unit of community police who try to cooperate and act.

It depends, of course, on the street. Is it a residential street? Do you live on the 41st South Street? This kind of thing. The simplest solution we have is probably to deploy our agents, our traffic agents, like agent Fawcett, in these areas. If we know a specific hour, a specific day, or maybe every day, maybe all day, we can deploy our resources there to carry out controls and sensitize people. There are times when we have to go to the extreme. We can set up speed control ads or do speed studies, etc. And these are generally very rare cases. But in most cases, we realized that the best way to proceed was simply to raise awareness and to respect the law. How to do it? They can call the police department. They can call the 840-4000 and say, I have to talk to the traffic police and get information on how we can get these agents to our place. At the West Fest the other day, someone approached me and asked him the question.

So I noted this information and answered it.

And in the end, driving is a personal responsibility. And people have to take responsibility for it. We are taught that at 16 years old, we get our driver's license. We drive a vehicle and we can hurt someone. You have to be responsible. So, if everyone is driving above the speed limit, at what speed should I drive?

We are always asked. We are asked when we stop people. We say oh we just follow the flow of traffic. Which technically is not really the case. There is a speed limit for a reason. You should respect the limit. Even if everyone says, as the lieutenant said, you are going to make your doors jump. You must take your responsibilities and drive carefully. Simply because everyone can drive at 10 or 15 over the limit. So there is this theory or this false idea that circulates, according to which you will not have any contravention if you only drive 5 km above the limit. Is that true? Technically, I mean, we have so many other cars that drive much faster, but technically, yes, we could stop you to have gone over 5 km and give you the same contravention that we would give to someone who goes over 10 km.

Especially in a school area, right? No tolerance.

Absolutely.

Okay, so another question we have and what advice would you give to parents who learn to drive? To a teenager.

You know, it's a difficult question, but I think that, for example, when I taught my daughter to drive, I tried to teach her the facts about what could potentially happen when you are distracted, when you are not careful, when you drive too fast, when you follow another vehicle too closely. are the kind of things that will put you in a car accident. So try to teach them these facts and make them notice these things, go out and drive with them and just watch, observe what they do and maybe give them some criticism. There are other courses that you can follow. You can find them online, courses on safe driving or defensive driving, things like that, videos on YouTube that will also help you choose and highlight things that you would never have thought of yourself. But in reality, to drive is to know the laws, then to show common sense and discernment in order to execute your driving to get to where you have to go safely and ensure that everyone is protected. There are therefore many different resources.

Another good advice I heard is to ask your teenager driver to verbalize what he sees while he drives. You can thus have a better idea of ​​his situation and help him maybe have things on which he does not focus.

Many insurance companies monitor the behavior of a person and can assign him notes, evaluate etc. If you have an insurance company that offers this option, do not hesitate to put it in your car for you, for your wife, for anyone and for your children of course and check them and make sure they respect the laws.

And I laugh, I laugh, I laugh because I had several teenagers to whom I had to learn to drive. And nowadays, teenagers say to themselves, oh, I'm going to do what I want. But in reality, as I said, teenagers are constantly on their phones. So the most important thing I would say is to establish a kind of rule in which they are not allowed to use the phone. And in fact, it's a law that forbids young people aged 15, 16 and 17 to use a phone in a car, unless it's an emergency. So if you could really let your children know, tell them it's illegal to use their phone in a vehicle and that it's not worth the cost. Because these teenagers are always on their phones. So it's a big deal.

Yeah, okay. Well, you're popular. We get a lot of questions. When is it legal to engage in a yellow light intersection?

Well, technically, we have said that the yellow light is to stop you. If you are not able to stop, that's why they don't go directly from the red light. They have to give you a grace period so that you can stop. If you are not able to stop in time, you have to cross the yellow light intersection. Techniquement, si l'on s'en tient à la lettre de la loi, et corrigez-moi si je me trompe, si vos roues avant franchissent la ligne d'arrêt avant que le feu ne passe au rouge, c'est légal. C'est exact ? D'accord. Donc, franchir la ligne d'arrêt, c'est exact. Nous ne vous encourageons pas à essayer d'accélérer pour la franchir. Mais si vous ne pouvez pas vous arrêter parce que vous êtes trop près, alors vous devez continuer et la franchir.

Yes, most of the intersections, at least most of the main intersections, have a pedestrian crossing. And just before this pedestrian crossing, there is a small line that crosses the traffic lanes. It's your stop line.

I wonder if he's talking more about a yellow turn, a turn with yellow lights, maybe too. Even if the intersection is not clear and you and your fire go from yellow to red, it is not because it is yellow that you have the right to turn left. You have always had to clear this intersection.

So even if the fire is red and there is still traffic, I wait.

And you can, once you are in the traffic, turn left at the red light as long as you are there.

So... Yeah, as long as you're already in the intersection.

Yeah. Because we see a lot of left turn accidents, because vehicles coming in the opposite direction did not give way to the yellow light.

Yeah.

Let's see what we have... How do you decide where to concentrate road controls?

We have a lot of problematic intersections and we were able to use maps that indicate where most of the accidents occur in the city. We deploy them in these specific areas, more often than elsewhere, simply because we see that there are problems with speed and red lights.

We really try to focus on these areas.

And then, as the lieutenant mentioned, we receive a lot of complaints about places that require the attention of the citizens who live in the community and who know the problem. If we report this, we will work in these areas.

Why can't agents be posted more often at problematic intersections? So, we are just someone.

I mean, on a given period, I mean, in the unit of traffic, we are, you know, eight or nine. We are only eight or nine to take care of traffic at all times. We try to attack as many problematic areas as possible. But we can't be alone.

There are many problematic areas. It's not just us.

Yeah, and I mean road safety is a major concern for us. And that's also why I don't make you patrol on accidents, but rather on sugar. But it's because I want you to focus on road safety. You are only a few and you do a lot of work. So Joyce asks,

Quand allez-vous embaucher à nouveau de nouveaux agents? Oh, je vais répondre à cette question. En fait, c'est Jace, pardon, pas Joyce. Jace, nous embauchons actuellement des agents certifiés et certifiables et nous venons juste de fermer pour les non-certifiés, donc il faudra probablement attendre encore trois mois avant de rouvrir pour les candidats non-certifiés. Mais si vous êtes certifiables ou certifiés, nous allons prendre votre candidature maintenant.

I will also put the recruitment page in the comments.

And they will put the recruitment page in the comments. Briana asks, what can we do for people who light red lights? I see that at least once a day.

So we are constantly working on it. As I said, there are a lot of maps where we see accidents and many are due to red lights.

So we are constantly verbalizing people on a daily basis for illegal offenses.

With the 3500 South, a major problem. Blackwood Road and the 3500 South.

In fact, almost all the major intersections along the 3500 South have a huge red light problem.

If you see other areas that have red light problems, let us know and we will work on it and try to help you avoid these accidents.

Yeah, and one of the things you can do to ensure your safety is not to start immediately when the fire goes out. Like, check. Because...

The fire doesn't want to go out, it wants to move forward with caution. That's it.

That's it. And I know that in other communities across the country, they have automated controls, red light cameras. That's it. But, just to be clear, it is not legal in the state of Utah to do automated controls. C'est pourquoi nous sommes coincés avec nos ressources humaines. Voyons voir. Avons-nous d'autres questions? On dirait que c'est tout. Alors merci de vous joindre à nous aujourd'hui. La discussion pour notre prochaine réunion communautaire aura lieu le mercredi 22 juillet où nous parlerons de la collaboration pour assurer la sécurité de notre quartier. Merci et bonne journée.