OSU installs electric speed signs to promote campus safety

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

 
By Wesley Burt

(STILLWATER, OK – April 15, 2009) Oklahoma State University is taking a new approach to monitoring speeding on campus. The OSU Police Department entered a joint effort with Student Affairs, Risk Management and the Physical Plant to install electronic speed display signs at several locations on campus.

The electric speed signs use a radar mechanism to alert drivers of their speed. The numbers on the signs flash and in some cases spell out the words “slow down,” when a driver is exceeding the posted speed limit.

Lieutenant L.P. Jones of the OSU Police Department says the signs are designed to increase driving safety on campus. “Sometimes when people are driving they really don’t look down at their speedometer and sometimes do not realize they are speeding,” said Jones. “But with these signs in place there it is a bright display right in the view of their windshield.”

The first sign was installed on McElroy Street last summer, since then five more signs have been installed and a seventh will soon be installed. The street locations of the signs were chosen based on the amount of traffic the areas receive.

“Both vehicle and pedestrian traffic is considered in the process,” Jones said. Many of the signs are located where students often walk and other signs are located near the family apartments where children are frequently playing.

The cost of the signs range from $2,500 - $3,000 each, but Jones says the money has been well spent.

“The signs help because we hope to promote voluntary compliance to speed laws, which would allow officers to spend more time concentrating their efforts on other enforcement instead of traffic.”

“Outside of safety, our other main goal is to issue fewer citations,” Jones said. “A ticket, especially in our current economic situation can hurt your pocketbook; these signs are our way of reminding people to follow traffic laws without giving citations.”

Jones warns that although the signs help patrol the campus, you will not see a drop in officers on the street. “These signs are not designed to take the place of officer enforcement,” Jones said. “The signs are just a new tool we are using to help enforce the law and promote safety.”

Although it’s too early to tell whether the signs have had any effect on the speeding situation, Jones is confident that the signs will help.

“Right now I am working on compiling statistics that would show the decrease of citations issued on the streets since the signs were installed,” Jones said, “Drivers generally react well to the signs and slow down as a result.”