Transportation Safety

Objectives
Introduce students to the TDL Career
Cluster: Transportation
Systems/Infrastructure Planning,
Management, and Regulation
Civil Engineering (Transportation Engineering)
(Content Standard #1)
Introduce Students to Transportation Safety
Concepts
(Content Standard #2 and #3)
 Transportation Case Study
The objective of this study:
Analyze the current speed compliance ratio of
traffic.
How many people do not comply with the speed
limit on this stretch of road?
Generate a viable solution targeted to slowing
down traffic and making this stretch of road
safer for drivers and pedestrians.
Are current traffic speeds unsafe?
If they are unsafe, what can we do to slow down
traffic in a safe way?
Transportation Safety Background

More than 3 million transportation-related

injuries a year (nationwide)
Societal cost: $231 billion a year
Loss to Nebraska: $2 billion a year
Motor vehicle crashes account for 40% of
all 16-18 year old deaths in the US.
 Transportation Safety Background
In Nebraska, 256 people were fatally injured in
traffic accidents in 2007.
Downward Trend
300 Nebraska Fatalities
290

280

270

260

250

240

230
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
 Transportation Safety Background
As of July 3rd, 2008
98 Fatalities
84 in Rural Areas
14 in Urban Areas
Compared to the 2004-2007 average
Fatalities are down 23% so far this year in
Nebraska
 Transportation Case Study
We are going to do a case study on a
stretch of road just west of Bryan HS

48th street
between
Glasgow
Ave and
Giles
Road
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 1
DATA COLLECTION
Using a stopwatch, time the cars as they
pass between the two landmarks.
Landmarks will be given on next slide
Record your times for each car on the
worksheet provided. (Speed Conversion
Worksheet)
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 1
The land marks are:
The pine tree just to the right of the house
The sign by the white building
SIGN TREE
 What Time Did You Get?

Time between the two landmarks:

2.45 Seconds
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2
CALCULATE THE SPEED
Now that we have our data, we need to
find the speed of the cars in Miles per
Hour.
Use the equation for speed
Speed = Distance (Miles) / Time (Hours)

The distance The time it takes

the cars travel for the cars to
travel that
distance
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2

We need to convert FEET per SECOND to

MILES per HOUR
There are 5,280 feet in a mile
There are 3,600 seconds in 1 hour
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2

First, find the distance the car has traveled

in miles:
1 foot = 0.00018939 miles (1 / 5,280)

Number of feet the car traveled x .00018939 =

Distance
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2
Landmark Distance

163 Feet

Distance = 163 x .00018939

Distance = .03087057 Miles
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2
Now that you have converted the distance from
feet to miles, lets convert the time from seconds
to hours:
Insert the time you recorded in seconds into the
equation
Number of seconds over 3,600
Number of Seconds
=TIME (in hours)
3,600

2.45 Seconds / 3,600 = .00068055 Hours

 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2
Now lets insert the TIME and DISTANCE
into the Speed Equation:

DISTANCE
TIME
=Speed (MPH)
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 2
TIME = .00068055 Hours
DISTANCE = .03087057 Miles

.03087057 Miles
.00068055 Hours
= 45.36 MPH

Speed Limit = 35 MPH

 Transportation Case Study
STEP 3

You and a partner will spend 20 minutes

collecting data on this stretch of road.
You will time 10 different cars and
calculate their speeds
Use worksheet provided
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 3
Once finished: calculate the Compliance
Ratio
Give the percent of vehicles going faster than
the posted speed limit (35 MPH)
(# of speeders / 10) x 100 = percent of
speeding vehicles (Compliance Ratio)
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 4
Do we have a problem on this stretch of
road?
DISCUSSON
What are the traffic laws in this area?
Speed Limit during SCHOOL?
What is or is not located on or around this
stretch of road that may increase traffic
speed?
Do you think that the low speed limit through
here is important or should it be increased?
 Transportation Case Study
STEP 4
Using the internet, you and your partner
will research possible solutions to slow
down the traffic.
Stop Light
Traffic Calming Device
More Enforcement
Speed Bumps
Create a power point presentation to
showcase your solution.
 Career Pathway

Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics

Transportation Systems/Infrastructure

Planning, Management, and Regulation

Civil Engineering

Transportation Engineering
 Civil Engineering Video
Nebraska Career Connections
Civil Engineering Career Video

http://www.nebraskacareerconnections.org/
Bear Tracks
Bear Tracks is a Bryan High
TDL newsletter dedicated to
increasing our student
knowledge of high demand
and high wage jobs in the
Transportation, Distribution,
and Logistics Career
pathway.