Zavarovalnica Triglav dd : For 30 safer sections of road

According to figures from the Slovenian Traffic Safety Agency, if we manage to reduce average speeds in built-up areas by 1 km/h, we help reduce accidents by 4% in those areas and by 2% outside those areas. Zavarovalnica Triglav and Sipronika, in collaboration with municipalities, have, for the second year running, been trying to increase those percentages still further through the 'Calming Traffic Together' project. Dangerous sections of roads will this year be equipped with 12 new speed indicators, to join the 30 that have already been installed.

Speeding is one of the most common causes of road accidents, and the great majority of these occur on local roads through built-up areas (46% according to the Slovenian police). The small reduction in speed achieved so far has therefore been key to preventing serious road accidents, and traffic calming on dangerous road sections is one of the key elements of preventive action and an effective measure for reducing the number of road accidents and their consequences. One 'friendly' and effective approach is the installation of smart speed indicators on dangerous sections that pass through villages and other built-up areas.

30 speed indicators installed as part of the campaign

Last year, Zavarovalnica Triglav, in conjunction with Sipronika,installed 18 'Your Speed' indicator signs, which show drivers how fast they are driving, as part of the 'Calming Traffic Together' project. With the aim of reducing speeds on dangerous sections, where the youngest pedestrians are most at risk, i.e. in the vicinity of schools and nursery schools, the two companies have continued the campaign into this year.

Twelve selected municipalities, who applied to the project for co-funding for the installation of speed indicators at the end of May, will have them installed for the start of the school year on key school routes. These include Dobrova-Polhov Gradec, Polzela, Novo Mesto, Ljubno, Bled, Šalovci, Solčava, Gorenja vas-Poljane, Trbovlje, Šmarješke Toplice, Velike Lašče and Sevnica. In the two years of the campaign, Zavarovalnica Triglav will therefore have helped install 30 speed indicators and thereby spread awareness of the importance of safe, calm driving among all road users.

A 'wall of shame' with a positive message

Speed indicators store and process data on traffic that can be viewed on the vi-vozite.si website. The system therefore constitutes an innovative and effective solution and an important tool for analysing data and determining future speed-reduction measures. 'We are also monitoring the results of a comparative study of the effect on speeds when the indicators are switched on and when they are switched off. Driving speeds are measured in both cases, but are not displayed when the indicators are switched off. When the display is on, the indicators thank the driver or tell him that he was driving at excessive speed. The results indicate a significant fall in the proportion of speeding drivers and a reduction in average speeds when the display is switched on,' explained Sipronika's director Marjan Kržišnik.

In the course of this year's campaign, and following the installation of the first speed indicator in Dobrova, the proportion of speeding drivers had already fallen by 6% on that particular section. The best result achieved by a municipality in which indicators have been installed this summer has been seen in Polzela, where the proportion of speeding drivers has fallen by 9%. At four locations (Ljubno, Polzela, Novo Mesto and Dobrova), average speeds have fallen by between 1 and 2.5 km/h, which has a considerable impact on improving road safety and meets the objectives of the 'Calming Traffic Together' project.

Andrej Brglez, director of the Institute for Civilisation and Culture and one of Slovenia's most prominent road safety experts, has this to say about speed indicators when they are installed at carefully selected locations: 'They are an important and effective additional traffic-calming tool which, in projects such as this one, not only have a positive impact on drivers but also act as a kind of 'wall of shame'. Every road user is made aware very clearly of their attitude towards safety and to the people around them. They also give everyone an additional incentive to believe that it is worth trying to improve that attitude.'

Raising awareness through the project

The solution is not only important for drivers, but for schoolchildren and other pedestrians as well - who are able to read a display of driving statistics on screens in the school hall or on the municipality's website. This makes them aware of their own stake in safer road use and allows them to become advocates of safer driving in their own environments. Outlining the further steps to be taken as part of the project, Luka Pušnik, director of the Corporate Communications Department at Zavarovalnica Triglav, said: 'This year, in collaboration with local communities in which indicators have been installed, we will be carrying out activities that address 'traffic stakeholders', chiefly drivers and schoolchildren, and thereby further bolster the effects of the speed indicators.'

At the same time, the indicators are also important for all those responsible for traffic calming, such as municipal traffic authorities, municipal road safety councils, the police, traffic warden services, and school and nursery school management. These institutions and organisations are able to monitor the situation on the website and initiate stricter traffic-related measures if they prove to be necessary. 'We installed an indicator last year at the Ludvik Pliberšek primary school on Lackova cesta in Maribor. This section, which lies in an area of heavy traffic, sees 15,000 vehicles a day, with the school attended by around 550 pupils. 'Covert measurements', where the device is switched off for a time and then switched on again, have also allowed us to reduce average speeds by 3.52 km/h and the proportion of speeding drivers by over 16 percentage points. We regularly review the data on the 'Your Speed' website and we are happy with the results for now,' said Denis Kocbek from the Utilities, Traffic and Spatial Planning Office at Maribor City Council, whose area has seen the largest reduction in the proportion of speeding drivers in the 12 months since the installation of an indicator as part of last year's campaign.

The positive results show that the project is heading in the right direction, which means continuing the 'Calming Traffic Together' campaign and the monitoring of the results is not only the sensible but also the most socially responsible course of action. For road users, the indicators are a friendly reminder that everyone has a part to play in making the country's roads safer.