Defensive Driving Tools for Safety

Posted on 08/24/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

Defensive Driving Tools for Safety was written and presented by Jeff Hohlstein, a Community Traffic Safety Team member in Clay County, Florida. This educational driving and traffic safety presentation is geared toward aging road users. However, these are essential tips and reminders for all drivers.

Flip through the Defensive Driving Tools for Safety Presentation:

Learn about setting side view mirrors for blind spots. Understand the importance of keeping a safe following distance and obeying the speed limit. Maintaining a safe following distance is a good idea for all drivers to keep in mind. While this rule is flexible and isn’t always appropriate in every driving situation, it can foster good driving habits that reduce the risk of rear-end collisions and similar accidents. In addition, being a safe driver can earn discounts on auto insurance premiums.

Gain an understanding of observing a vehicle’s front wheels, approaching intersections safely, and scanning through a signalized intersection. Learn how to use the OODA Loop while driving. OODA is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. When you do it again and again, it becomes a constant decision loop. Retired Colonel John Boyd, USAF, developed this rapid decision-making tool. Today, OODA is used by many Armed Forces and Police agencies and can be used as a defensive driving tool for motorists.

Most people set their side view mirrors straight back and miss their blind spot completely. The video covers how to set your side view mirrors to cover your blind spot.

This video discusses how to use OODA to stay safe while driving. Defensive driving is much about managing space around your vehicle. The most controllable area you have is your safe following distance. OODA will help you do that right. OODA will also help you develop scan patterns for navigating intersections and avoiding a collision when someone unsafely enters your right-of-way.

Uses of OODA in defensive driving:

Observe > Following distance, traffic patterns; intersections of all kinds; vehicles around you.
Orient > Calculate the following distance; identify other potential conflicts.
Decide > Action to maintain safe following distance; plan to avoid those other conflicts.
Act > Establish/reestablish safe following distance; avoid those other conflicts whether or not the crash would have been your fault.
Do it again > Practice OODA until it’s as natural as driving itself.

Jeff Hohlstein presenting Defensive Driving Tools for Safety

Click here to read Jeff Hohlstein’s first article, Three Defensive Driving Tools to Avoid Great Impact, and what the video presentation from 2020.

Six-Year Crash Fact Report

Posted on 08/17/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

This FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program’s Six-Year Crash Fact Report provides data for all 18 counties.

The 6-year crash facts covers districtwide numbers, county numbers, population growth, and the emphasis areas of Florida’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan. These include roadway crash facts, user behavior crash facts, and road user crash facts.

FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program 6 Year (2016-2021) Crash Facts PDF file

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District Two’s Community Traffic Safety Program mission is to reduce traffic-related fatalities and injuries. This is also the goal of Target Zero – because every life counts, and even one fatality is too many.

The #1 objective of the Community Traffic Safety Program is to reduce the number and severity of crashes. We work at identifying, developing, implementing, and evaluating safety and traffic strategies.

These strategies include planning, design, construction, maintenance, education, and community outreach. We offer traffic safety engineering expertise to the public, and with the help and assistance of our partners, we serve as transportation safety champions.

The six-year historical report is a fundamental evaluation tool as we work toward zero deaths and severe injuries on our Florida roadways.

Take a moment to flip through District Two’s Six-Year Crash Fact Report

Traffic Safety Talk Winter 2022

Posted on 01/26/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program News and Information

Traffic Safety Talk Winter 2022 is now available. Click here to download the Winter 2022 edition of Traffic Safety Talk.

2021 Reflection + Planning for 2022

The landscape of the CTSP has changed over the past year, yet we continue to expand awareness of traffic safety issues and solve local traffic safety concerns. We have met the challenge of staying positive and engaged over the past year. Team members and community partners received 47,243 emails this year. This number does not include meeting invitations. This kept us connected and gave us the ability to share important information, tips, and strategies. Through engineering, education, enforcement, emergency medical services, and by providing resources on our website and social media channels, we remain a strong voice in traffic safety.
– Andrea Atran, M.A., CPM
FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program Manager

Virtual Meetings + Engineering Concerns

Safety remains our number one goal as COVID concerns continue to impact everyone’s work and personal lives. Team meetings were held virtually through 2021 and will continue into 2022. Teams have used this opportunity to grow and welcome new members. We are proud to say our teams have risen to the challenge and continue to make progress in improving traffic safety in their communities. Over the past year, we held 72 virtual CTST meetings with a total of 924 attendees and 43 new members. Every CTST in District Two continued to address and solve traffic safety concerns. Since going virtual, we also reduced paper consumption and waste.

Focused On Impaired Driving Prevention

We have promoted our annual Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver campaign and the Recipes for the Road booklet for 24 years. According to Florida’s 2021-2025 SHSP, one out of every four traffic fatalities in Florida involves a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs.

CTST Members Step Up for Safety

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver continues to be a popular, grassroots campaign. It is focused on stopping impaired driving in Northeast Florida communities. With one out of every four traffic fatalities in Florida involving an impaired driver, according to Florida’s 2021-2025 SHSP, this safety message is a top priority for us.

Help Message Traffic Safety

In 2021, the majority of our content was shared electronically. We also worked on shipping out key traffic safety materials. This year, we ask for continued support in sharing traffic safety messages online, distributing information, and displaying materials. We plan to produce new activity books and traffic safety pieces in 2022.

Click here to read the complete CTSP Traffic Safety Talk – Winter 2022 Newsletter.

Traffic Safety Engineering Concerns

We rely on CTST members. Our members are local highway safety advocates. They are committed to solving traffic safety problems through a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional, multidisciplinary approach. A major function of the CTSTs is to submit, review and address solutions for these concerns. Since last winter, we have:

Followed 259 Engineering Concerns
Received 115 New Concerns
Closed 117 Issues

Most Popular CTST Messages

National School Bus Safety Week

Posted on 10/18/2021 by Traffic Safety Team

National School Bus Safety Week (NSBSW) usually takes place the third week in October. The Northeast Florida Community Traffic Safety Program highlights school bus safety tips and information to share. Please join us in advocating for school bus safety to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our roadways.

Every year, approximately 440,000 public school buses travel more than 4 billion miles and daily transport 24 million children to and from schools and school-related activities. School buses account for an estimated 10 billion student trips each year.*

Also in honor of National School Bus Safety Week, we would like to thank all bus drivers and also acknowledge the shortage in our local communities. We appreciate everyone working together to make sure children get to school and back home safely.

School Bus Safety Rules for Drivers

Learn and obey the school bus laws in your state.
Be sure to acquaint yourself with the flashing light system that school bus drivers use to alert motorists.
Yellow flashing lights mean that the school bus is preparing to stop. Motorists should slow down and be ready to stop their vehicles.
Red flashing lights and an extended stop arm indicate that the school bus has stopped, and children are boarding or exiting.
Two-lane road: all vehicles in both directions must stop.
On a divided highway with a raised median, unpaved space, or a physical barrier of at least five feet: vehicles traveling in the opposite direction are not required to stop.
Divided highway where no median or barrier exists: all vehicles are mandated to stop.

School Bus Safety Reminders for Students

Arrive early.
Don’t push or cut in line.
Stay out of the “danger zone,” 10 steps away from the bus.
Wait for the bus driver to open the door before trying to get on.
Keep the aisle clear of your backpack, bag, or books.
Talk quietly during the entire bus ride.
Keep your hands, arms, and head inside the bus at all times.
Walk in front of the bus to cross the street, never behind it.

National Coalition for Safer Roads introduced the theme Expect the Unexpected. Know the Danger Zone. Click here to check out what they have to offer this year.

Additional Safety Information and Resources for Drivers and Children:

School Bus Safety

Illegal School Bus Passing Fines Doubled

Safety for Kids

_{*source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration}

Traffic Safety Talk Summer 2021

Posted on 09/01/2021 by Traffic Safety Team

FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program News and Information

We are excited to present Traffic Safety Talk Summer 2021. Click here to download the Summer 2021 edition of Traffic Safety Talk.

Staying Positive and Engaged

The landscape of the FDOT District Two CTSP has changed over the past year, but we continue to expand awareness of traffic safety issues and solve local traffic safety concerns. We focused on reducing crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our roadways. CTSP does this through engineering, education, enforcement, emergency medical services. We also provide resources on our website, with new blogposts and on our social media channels. Just under 45,000 emails, not including CTST meeting invitations, were sent to team members and community partners to help stay connected and share important traffic safety information, tips, and strategies.
– Andrea Atran, M.A., CPM
FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program Manager

Virtual Meetings + Engineering Concerns

In May, Andrea Atran presented to the WTS (Women in Transportation) Northeast Florida Chapter. She covered topics including our program history, Strategic Highway Safety Plan, local data, engineering concerns, resources available and virtual volunteering opportunities. Over the past year, we held 73 virtual CTST meetings with a total of 929 attendees and 49 new members. By going virtual, we reduced paper consumption and waste. This simple act of green saved over 30,500 sheets of paper during the past year. While virtual meetings have not been ideal for everyone, some Teams have used this as an opportunity to grow and for members to attend who would not have been able to in-person. We are proud to say our Teams followed 298 engineering concerns, received 108 new concerns, and closed 111 issues since last summer.

Buckle Up Banners About Town

By now you have probably seen some of the occupant protection banners displayed around Northeast Florida. We distributed 2,009 banners and 1,714 posters and surpassed 43,622 social media impressions/views with our Buckle Up campaign. The images are available digitally, which includes social media graphics to download and share for free.

Countermeasures That Work

Our FDOT District Two CTSP created an educational series of cost effective safety engineering countermeasures that help reduce intersection, lane departure, and pedestrian/bicyclist crashes. The traffic safety strategies and treatments are based on proven measures of effectiveness by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These countermeasures reduce serious injury and fatal crashes on our roadways. These were very popular across our social media platforms with almost 35,000 impressions. All three categories of countermeasures are posted on our website for viewing and sharing.

LANE DEPARTURE COUNTERMEASURES help prevent running off the road, crossing the center median into an oncoming lane of traffic, and sideswipe crashes.
INTERSECTION COUNTERMEASURES incorporate roadway design, signage, traffic control devices, lighting, and other safety measures to help reduce crashes.
PEDESTRIAN/BICYCLIST COUNTERMEASURES use strategies and treatments of roadway markings, configurations, and traffic lights to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes by slowing traffic, allowing more space and safe areas for walkers and cyclists.

New Flashback FAQ Series

Take a step back in time with us! From our video vault archive, we produced a new CTSP video series. Our Flashback FAQs showcase some timeless Traffic Safety Team talk. After more than 20 years, these clips provide insight into the essence of the CTSP in Northeast Florida that still apply today.

The Flashback FAQs are featured on our social media pages. The Flashback FAQs answer some common questions we receive, like: What is the Community Traffic Safety Program?, Who are the members of a CTST?, What is the WHALE Check Program?, and How does CTST solve issues?

Wise Words for Traffic Safety

This year we re-purposed artwork from a previous series we created into a fresh new Wise Words safety campaign. Grace Wilhelm with Duval Schools, submitted new Wise Words idea, Be Wise – Use Your Eyes, which we added with an eye-catching owl driver graphic. Just since January, there have been 7,969 Wise Words views and engagements on our social media platforms.

Click here to view the complete newsletter which also includes how the Celebrate Safely program shifted since COVID-19, traffic safety materials distributed, and some of your favorite Community Traffic Safety Team messages.

Traffic Safety Team

Bringing you home safely

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