From: P.A. Campbell To: P.A. Campbell Thanks, Terry, for your email and good luck on your presentation! I have not talked to any real estate people about facts and figures about speed bumps causing detri- mental values and I will try to do so. If I can learn anything of value, I will, of course, let you know. From my own personal experience, if I were looking for a house to rent or buy and found speed bumps in the area, I would high-tail it out of these faster that you can even think about it! I've added a couple of friends to this email and perhaps they may be in a position to add something. The speed bump issue is highly political. Seems unfair that certain people who live on a certain street can dictate the installation of them on "their" street, thus causing traffic to choose other paths on other streets nearby. Good luck, Terry! John -------------------------------------------------------- From: P.A. Campbell To: John Gidusko 03:36 PM 3/29/2003 03:36PM -0600 Sometime ago I contacted your website to obtain additional information about or to inform you of our battle with the City of Omaha concerning Traffic Calming. Specific to our neighborhood, the City installed a road bump on our street at the request of a neighbor. The Traffic Engineer violated the conditions precedent required in a 1999 Traffic Calming Resolution passed by the City Council. The bump was installed in September. We documented 6 violations of the City Council Resolution. We noticed an increase in traffic speed, and noise; our neighborhood looked trashy with all the no parking and warning signs and we were concerned about falling property values. In November, in a display of monumental ineptness, the Public Works Department sent out a large machine to grind down the pavement and resurface the road. To our delight, they also ground down the bump but we were told the bump would be reconstructed. Within 4 hours we circulated a petition on our street, and got 17 of a possible 23 names of neighbors who did not want the bump. This was not good enough for the city and they indicated they were still going to reconstruct the bump. We got the attention of our City Councilman who held a neighborhood meeting and mailed ballots. I received a letter today that we won and the bump will not be reinstalled. The neighborhood vote was 6 in favor and 12 opposed to the bump. I also contacted several councilman I knew and called their attention to the violations of the 1999 resolution by Traffic Engineering and the Department of Public Works. Within the last few weeks the council took back the money they had earmarked for traffic calming placed it back in the General Fund. At this time of tight budgets, citizens groups might have success. If you want to negatively affect a bureaucrat who is giving your group trouble, go after his budget. While we cannot rest easy, it appears we have won this battle. I wanted to let you know of our success. Terry R. Campbell Omaha, Nebraska ------------------------------------------------------------ From: P.A. Campbell To: John Gidusko 3/30/2003 06:04PM -0600 Yes John, please do reprint my communication to you. Neighborhood activists should give serious thought about the budget issue when dealing with bureaucrats. Now that city, county and state budgets are very tight, law makers are looking for foolish spending and traffic calming is just such a foolish expenditure. They love being told of wasteful spending so they can slash that budget and earmark the money for their own pet projects. The best way to handle a bureaucrat is through their budget. Terry R. Campbell Omaha, NE ------------------------------------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2003 15:52:43 -0400 From: "Tammy M. Keith" To: As a statistics teacher I have to seriously question the validity of this paper. No SOUND statistical measures were used to draw inferences about causation, and none CAN be drawn. We are supposed to risk the lives of children on a MAYBE that an emergency vehicle MIGHT NOT respond in time on a call that MIGHT happen? I now know where the crackpot in my neighborhood is getting her misinformation and I will be SURE to contact my commissioners with SOLID facts on the numbers of cars recklessly speeding around children. ----------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wednesday, 16 Apr 2003 10:40 PM -0500 To: "Tammy M. Keith" From: John Gidusko \ Ms. Keith. thank you very much for your email. I am always interested in different viewpoints regarding the problem. The first thing that I notice is that you are comparing apples and oranges. You are comparing real life deaths caused by the installation of the bumps with the imaginary deaths of children that have not occurred. As a matter of fact, childrens' deaths in residential areas cannot be related to the presence of bumps, because there are not that many, and it cannot be proven that the bumps have any effect whatsoever. I consider the downloadable studies to be absolutely sound and scientific. As a statistical teacher, you must be aware that the studies were completed with the utmost attention to scientific principles. I feel if you had downloaded Asst. Fire Chief Les Bunte's free 256 page document and read it, you would be forced to agree with Mr. Bunte. You, apparently, wish to install the bumps so that MAYBE an emergency vehicle would NOT have to use the road, and MAYBE it wouldn't delay the vehicle, and MAYBE it wouldn't risk the lives of those requiring emergency services. More are dying because of the bumps than children hit by vehicles on bumpless roads, any time... summer, winter, day or night. When you contact your commisioners be sure to tell them exactly how many children have been killed in your neighborhood because of speeding cars. Tell them also exactly how many could possibly be killed by speeding cars in the future. Also tell them that Seminole County here in Florida, once very speedbump minded, refuses to now install any new ones. I also note that you called someone who doesn't agree with you a "crackpot." Let me assure you, Ms. Keith, that if that person is against the installation of speedbumps, that person is much more intelligent than you, statisically or any other way. Finally, I hope you don't mind if I share your email with some others who care. I would like very much for them to see some "Pro-bump" thoughts and ideas. Sincerely, John Gidusko ----------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2003 08:14:29 -0400 From: "Tammy M. Keith" To: "John Gidusko" Subject: Re: (Forwarded) Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2003 18:08:33 -0500 Dear Ms. Keith: Your message was forwarded to me. I have no idea how you came about contacting Mr. Gidusko, I have no idea as to the gist of the messages you exchanged. I do however, wish to provide you with a professional's perspective of what is known as traffic calming. I am a retired Omaha Police Department Lieutenant. For many years my field was traffic safety and accident investigation. Myself and two other Command Officers conceived and implemented The Omaha Plan in the early 1980s, which was one of the first police programs in the country to address the problems of the drunk driver. Our program lowered the fatality level in Omaha and indeed, the State of Nebraska to levels found in the year 1949. We won an award from the International Association of Chief's of Police and our program was received by President Reagen. Candy Lightner, the founder of MADD visited Omaha to honor our program. I feel traffic safety is so important yet so misunderstood by politicians, bureaucrats and the public that I have become a traffic safety researcher and activists. I feel I have established a track record. We have lived in our middle class neighborhood for 29 years. We have raised two kids and three dogs. With rare exception, many of our neighbors have raised kids on this street and they have all (except our neighbors daughter who was murdered) grown to adulthood, including the deaf child up the street. Before the 4-way stop sign was installed on Krug Avenue, the average speed of cars was about 40 mph in a posted 25 mph zone. From time to time I would place officers with radar on the street and they could obtain their 'acceptable level of performance' in a half an hour. The speeding did not stop, they just were able to issue lots of citations. The 4-way stop sign has reduced the average speed to about 32 mph. Last September a new resident with two children (one handicapped) had the City of Omaha install a road bump on our street. Many of us were very concerned, we knew this person had circulated a petition but we did not think he had acquired the requisite number of signatures. Myself and the retired Fire Captain who lives down the street obtained copies of the Omaha Traffic Calming Program. We quickly learned that bureaucrats violated at least 6 of the conditions precedent required by city council resolution of 1999. Our neighbor did not have enough signatures and had the petition out longer that the 90 day dead line. The city also removed the 25 mph sign that had been opposite my driveway for 29 years because the speed limit was to fast for the bump. We brought this to the attention of the city. Bureaucrats lied to us, treated us with disdain and refused to even admit that they were in error. The City installed numerous caution signs and no-parking signs. Our street began to look trashy. The real estate agent across the street did some research and stated the property value of neighbors next to the bump lost about 8 to 10 percent of their property values. We found vehicle noise increased because cars would squeal to a stop and then roar away. Vehicles would also squeal, bump and grind over the bump at all hours, often awaking us in the wee hours of the morning. I was in the front yard with the dog and I got cussed out by a passing driver because of the bump. We feel that vehicle speeds increased and while they slowed at the bump, they then sped away after the bump. Many of us worried about getting up the hill after a snow. We were concerned about stopping and controlling a vehicle when the road was icy. Fred's wife has a bad back. The bump hurt her back and she could not use the road in front of her house because of the pain. In a demonstration of monumental ineptness, the city re-paved our street in November. They sent a big machine to grind the road surface and the bump. We were delighted but were then advised by road workers that the bump was going to be reinstalled. We circulated a petition and in less that 4 hours, obtained 17 of 23 signatures (4 neighbors were not home) to not reconstruct the bump. Our petition was ignored by the city even though it was approved by a constitutional law professor at the university. After a neighborhood meeting and another vote conducted by our City Councilman, the vast majority of our neighbors voted for the bump not to be reinstalled. The bump was a nightmare for our neighborhood. Sadly, our next door neighbor who we have known for 29 years, the neighbor who's tears we shared when his daughter was murdered, will not speak to me. Traffic calming doesn't. You made a statement to Mr. Gudisko that a speeding vehicle is always at fault. This is technically an incorrect statement. Speed is sometimes a factor but is often not the cause of a fatality. I have seen persons killed at speeds of 20 mph and I have seen persons walk away from collisions with speeds well over 150 mph. In 1990 our Traffic Section was preparing another traffic safety program. Our intent was to revolutionize traffic safety enforcement by computer programs that predict random events and focus enforcement on collision causing factors. We were going to remove the radar units from cruisers because they hinder rather than contribute to traffic safety. The Police Executive Research Form gutted our Traffic Section after a study, and traffic enforcement officers were reassigned. It is interesting to note that traffic violation tickets dropped dramatically, but collisions nor the severity of collisions increased. But speed is often a very hot-button and emotional issue. When I was commander of the Accident Investigation Office I would field phone calls from people demanding speed enforcement on their street. " I live on a race track," some would say. "People are flying down my street, some kid is going to be killed," others would lament. About 70 percent of the time, the caller was one of the first person to be ticketed in a Traffic Radar Operation. "But...you can't ticket me...I'm the one who called you!" Speed is often blamed for a fatality but it has nothing to do with the collision. A short distance away from my home a van was pulling a home made trailer. As the van crested the hill, the trailer came unhitched and rolled down the hill, killing two youngsters who were playing at curbside. Investigation showed the trailer did not have safety chains. The neighbors petitioned the city for a road bump. Speed was not a factor in this fatality. Near my mother's home a young man was driving in a dangerous manner. I believe he was going to do a "lawn job" (driving over a lawn while spinning the tires) and in doing so, hit a young father pushing his daughter in a stroller. The young father was killed, the daughter injured. Blood tests showed the 16 year old teen driver was intoxicated. I think we will all agree that a drunk driver at any speed is dangerous. The neighbors petitioned the city for a traffic calming device and everything from round-abouts to stop signs at every block was considered. Speed was never a consideration in this fatality. Bumps and stop signs were not considered by traffic engineering because the street is used by Rescue Squads (a hospital is nearby) and Fire Trucks. My Fire Captain neighbor had written up several rigs that received damage while going over road bumps. You mentioned the posted speed limit on your street is 20 mph. Perhaps, because of the nature of the street, (long and straight, or on a hill) the posted limit it to slow. I refer you to the following scholarly research studies: FHWA-RD-92-084 June 1996 FHWA-RD-85-096 July 1985 CATO Institute Policy Analysis #346 May 1999 Report by Chad Dornsife (National Motorists Association) While these reports deal with rural highways and Interstate Highways the signage issues remain the same in urban areas. Speed limit signs will neither increase nor decrease speeds. Drivers will operate their vehicles at speeds which seem appropriate and at which they feel comfortable. I don't know if you have ever exceeded the posted speed limit while driving, but I know I have. Clearly, many speed limits are set unrealistically low and foster motorists misbehavior. Suggest your traffic engineer install a pneumatic speed and traffic counter which will count the number of vehicles your street and the speeds traveled. Determine the 85th percentile speed and then adjust the posted speed limit to this 85th percentile as required by Title 23, United States Code as articulated in the manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices. I truly believe that if you do this the perception of speeding cars in your neighborhood will no longer become an issue. I also strongly believe that parents must teach their children at an early age the value of looking both ways before crossing the street, crossing at a crosswalk and other safety education. I understand this is a very long e-mail. I also understand that it probably won't change you mind about traffic calming devices. I'm not looking for an argument, nor do I wish to get you upset. I do hope I have given you some food for thought or at least I was able to see how average people on a small street in Omaha, Nebraska were abused by the road bump that was installed by the City of Omaha. Thanks for your time and attention to this matter. Lieutenant Terry R. Campbell - Retired Traffic Safety Activists -------------------------------------------------------------- From: Kyle Magrill To: tcampbell.omaha@worldnet.att.net Subject: Traffic Calming Date: Saturday, April 19, 2003 7:39 PM Dear Lt. Campbell, I read with interest your well considered thoughts on traffic calming that were forwarded to our mail list by John Gidusko. I wanted start by thanking you for your professional views on this matter. Why is it that so many traffic planners do not see the situation as you do? Our little city seems to have gone insane with these devices. In addition to speed humps, round abouts and stop signs in the middle of streets, they are actively narrowing major arteries from 4 to 2 lanes in the belief that, by making the sidewalks much larger they will convince people to give up their vehicles in favor of walking or biking around town. In addition, through streets are being blocked off. All that is necessry is to get 50 of the residents on the affected street to agree to these devices. If people live on an artery that is fed by a dozen smaller streets, only those on the artery can vote. The result is traffic gridlock that has taken a 10 minute trip and stretched it into 45 mins during peak travel times. It is impossible to get into my neighborhood without passing over two or threee speed humps. In addition to people regularly becoming airborn or grounding out over them, we've already had a situation where the fire department truck was delayed about 40 seconds due to speed humps. During that 40 seconds, a small car fire became much larger and almost destroyed a house. Only quick thinking by the neighbors averted disaster. During those seconds that seemed to stretch on forever, we could clearly hear the fire truck grinding to a halt as it passed over each hump. The most commonly heard reason for traffic calming is, "if it saves one child, it's worth it". Yet, there don't seem to be any statistics to indicate that these devices have ever saved any lives. For proponants, it just seems "obvious" that these things make safer streets.. In our neighborhood, only one child has ever been killed in over 40 years that the nieghborhood has been here, despite the fact that speed humps were not installed until 2000. I argued that having the police ticket speeders would be a much better solution, but many people said that the police were never there but traffic calming always is on the job. I am amazed that dozens of people actively turn up at planning meetings to encourage this kind of regressive thinking. How can we educate our officials and planners about this? Are there resources online that we can draw useful information from? Also, did your department use consultants that believed that traffic calming doesn't really work? Our city consultants seem to feel that the automobile is bad and the city bus is good. They seem to be very actively trying to make driving as difficult as possible. Thanks again for your lucid views on this subject. Kyle Magrill ----------------------------------------------------------- (Response to Kyle Magrill from Terry Campbell) Dear Mr. Mcgrill: Traffic safety, speeding vehicles, safety of children can be a very emotional issue. I have found that proponents of Traffic Calming often react emotionally rather than making a rational decision based on statistical data derived from scholarly research. It is hard to argue with their statement that, "it's worth it if the life of one child is saved". To lobby against this statement makes you look like a Troll. But, their statement can be turned around and used against them. "Ok, if that's your premise, let's ban all vehicle traffic in town...nobody can drive a car, truck or SUV because a child might be struck. We also have to prohibit police cars, fire trucks, utility vehicles, " you reply. "We'll put gates up at the edge of town, we'll dig trenches across all roads. No vehicle will be able to get in or out. We'll drain the fuel from all vehicles left in town so nobody can drive. We'll do this because as you have stated, it's worth it if one child is saved." You use the ridiculous to fight the ridiculous. You can also counter the emotional argument with solid data in your favor. The Internet is a great source for information and there are a lot of good sites. I might direct you to an excellent source, the National Motorists Association. Indeed, you might wish to become a member of this organization. I once lobbied the Nebraska Unicameral as Nebraska Coordinator of the NMA and our Senators were very impressed even though we did not have much of a statewide membership. Anyway...whenever these people make a statement, ask where they got their information. You want data, not emotion! Provide them and your law makers with statistical data of your own. In the vast majority of child pedestrian pedestrian/motor vehicle fatality collisions I have investigated, the actions of the child were the cause of the fatality. Kids run out into the street from between parked vehicles. Kids exit vehicles and run across the street, kids suddenly dart into the street. They also operate their bicycles in a reckless manner. In the vast majority of the cases, witness statements indicate that the driver had no chance to stop and was not speeding. Your Police Department may have an Accident Investigation Office. Telephone them and say your are doing research, and you need to know the number of child pedestrian fatalities in the last year. If there are none, expand your search to the last two, three, four or five years. Ask the officer to provide to you the Report Number of these accident reports and then obtain copies of them. They should be public record. Examine each one to determine the cause factors. You will learn a lot from these reports. This voting by residents causes me great concern. Our street is a gateway to a large subdivision to our South. Our friends and neighbors to the South use the road, pay taxes for it's up keep, must negotiate the former bump yet, they do not have a vote. If pushed, I really think the selective voting assigned by bureaucrats is a danger to the elective process. We were able to influence City Councilman by involving the neighbors to the South who can't vote against the bump, but they can telephone him and complain and they will vote against the councilman at the next election! Try to get your City Councilperson or State Representative on board. Politicians respond to a ringing telephone. Get other like minded persons, relatives, wives, etc. to telephone and write. You will be in for a battle. Demand that your position received as much respect and consideration by politicians as your opponents. Do not allow them to dismiss your position our of hand. Good luck. Again, I direct you to the National Motorists Association and I might suggest that you become a local activist. There's safety and power in numbers and they are a national organization. Lt. Terry R. Campbell - Retired ------------------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 01:54:59 -0500 From: Kyle Magrill Subject: Re: Traffic Calming To: John Gidusko Organization: CircuitWerkes, Inc. John, I liked Lt. Campbell's response, which was a good one, particularly where he suggested collecting accident data. Many streets have very low accident rates, yet are subjected to traffic calming. A much more useful piece of information, however, came from Lt. Campbell's response to the young lady that you had been writing to. I consider it to possibly be the holy grail of the fight against traffic calming. It is the section that deals with how traffic engineers are misusing speed data collected on our roads. You will notice that Lt. Campbell cites several DOT studies and guidelines. Basically, these state that most drivers inherently know what a safe speed is and follow it. DOT guidelines suggest that speeds should be measured and the limits set to the 85th percentile. So, if the speed limit is set at 25mph but 80% of the motorists are going 40mph, then you don't need traffic calming. What you need is an increase in the speed limits on that road. I can tell you, from personal experience, that the traffic department here found that the majority of drivers were travelling between 35 and 40 mph on a road marked 25mph. The road is long, straight and wide with unobstructed views of the sides. There was no reason to make the speed limit 25mph, but the fact that almost everyone drove 35 was the main reason cited as a need of humps. I think if someone were to look into this avenue, it could go a long way towards winning those arguments. Good luck. Kyle