Zavarovalnica Triglav dd : Fewer speeding drivers in Novo Mesto and Šmarješke Toplice

As part of efforts to increase traffic safety for their residents, the municipalities of Novo Mesto and Šmarješke Toplice have installed MHP50 'Your Speed' signs at critical stretches of road. This has already resulted in greater road safety. The signs are part of the nationwide 'Calming Traffic Together' project, which will see, for the second year running, 12 municipalities around Slovenia actively introducing traffic-calming measures in residential areas, in the vicinity of schools and nurseries and along school routes, with the help of funding from Slovenia's biggest insurer.

As the Slovenian police have been warning for several years now, speed kills. The majority of road accidents (46%) occur on local roads that run through built-up areas. The figures for pedestrians are even more alarming,with vehicle speed the single most important factor affecting the severity of road accidents involving pedestrians. As even small reductions in speed are key to preventing serious road accidents, traffic calming in residential areas, where pedestrians are most at risk, is one of the main elements of a preventive approach and an effective measure for reducing the number of road accidents. One 'friendly' and effective approach is the installation of smart speed indicators on dangerous sections that pass through villages and other built-up areas.

The Calming Traffic Together project arose at the initiative of Sipronika and is supported by Zavarovalnica Triglav and municipalities around Slovenia, among them the City of Novo Mesto and the Municipality of Šmarješke Toplice. The principal aim of the project is to reduce traffic speeds in built-up areas and in the vicinity of schools and nurseries, where pedestrians, especially the very youngest, are most at risk. In the 18 municipalities in which the speed indicators were installed last season, speeds at selected sections have fallen by an average of 2 km/h, with the proportion of speeding drivers also falling by around 4%.

Speed displays influence drivers' behaviour

The most pronounced reduction in the proportion of speeding drivers in the two municipalities has been seen in Novo Mesto (13%). The sign is located on Seidlova cesta, in the immediate vicinity of Center Novo Mesto primary school. 'In Novo Mesto we are continuing with measures to improve road safety. Understandably, the most vulnerable road users, children going to and from school, are at the forefront of our thinking.The new location, which we equipped with a speed indicator sign at the start of the school year, is Seidlova cesta. A sign will also be installed at Center primary school. This is a tried and tested measure that has proved to be effective. In recent years, it has already helped to make drivers drive more carefully in the vicinity of schools in Šmihel and Grm,' explained Novo Mesto's mayor, Gregor Macedoni. The proportion of speeding drivers has also fallen in the Municipality of Šmarješke Toplice (by 3%), where the speed indicator has been installedon the regional road at the entrance to the village of Šmarjeta. 'This expresses our desire to protect children's safety in particular, as well as the safety of their parents. As mayor, I want our municipality to enjoy a healthy and safe living environment - and I'm sure our residents want the same. So I am grateful to all those drivers who realise that they are not the only ones on the road,' said Bernardka Krnc, mayor of Šmarješke Toplice, as she explained the importance of the new signs.

A friendly preventive measure

The 'Your Speed' MHP50 smart speed indicator signs are classed as 'friendly' preventive measures for improving road safety. As Marjan Kržišnik, managing director of Sipronika, explains: 'As in most cases, so it is in the two Dolenjska municipalities in which we have just installed the signs: the impact on road behaviour has been a positive one. We do nevertheless advise these municipalities to check the data regularly on thewww.vi-vozite.si website and, with the help of that data, and in conjunction with the police, the traffic warden service and representatives of the Road Safety Council, adopt any further measures to ensure that drivers begin to take speed limits more seriously.'

Fewer speeding drivers means greater safety

For several years now, Zavarovalnica Triglav have been involved in a variety of activities designed to improve road safety. Its support for the installation of speed indicators in the City of Novo Mesto and the Municipality of Šmarješke Toplice is in line with its fundamental values, which place safety and social responsibility to the fore. 'Here at Triglav, Slovenia's oldest insurer, we are proud to have helped ensure, in collaboration with Sipronika and the municipalities of Novo Mesto and Šmarješke Toplice, that primary school pupils in Dolenjska and other road users enjoy greater levels of road safety. Our experiences up to now mean that we are well aware that speed indicator signs are an effective way of calming traffic and that they really do increase safety on selected sections of road,' said Edo Povhe, director of the Novo Mesto Regional Office of Zavarovalnica Triglav.

These joint efforts to improve road safety have also been supported by members of the local Adria Mobil cycling club. 'The nature of our sport means that we spend a lot of time on the road. As cyclists are among the most vulnerable road users, we are particularly delighted to see that our members, who include 50 pre-school and primary school children, will enjoy a safer and more pleasant start to the school year. We would also like to encourage calmer and safer driving, and a greater emphasis on road safety by all road users, by using our cyclists as an example of good practice,' saidBogdan Fink, Adria Mobil director.

In collaboration with Sipronika and Zavarovalnica Triglav, municipalities around the country have already installed MHP50 'Your Speed' displays at 22 dangerous sections of road. By the end of this year, they will have further increased the safety of all road users in 30 municipalities.

Graph: Average and maximum speeds on Seidlova cesta, Novo Mesto between 19 and 27 August 2017

The average speed was 51 km/h, while the highest measured speed was 130 km/h (the speed limit is 50 km/h). The proportion of speeding drivers fell by 13% compared to the period in which the display was switched off (between 1 and 8 August 2017).

Graph: Average and maximum speeds on the regional road at the entrance to the village of Šmarjeta between 4 and 11 August

The average speed was 45 km/h, while the highest measured speed was 116 km/h (the speed limit is 50 km/h). The proportion of speeding drivers fell by 3% compared to the period in which the display was switched off (between 27 July and 4 August 2017).