Bountiful stresses safe driving

The Bountiful Traffic Safety Committee and the Bountiful City Council launched a safe-driving campaign this week to remind local residents of their responsibilities behind the wheel.

"The whole idea is just to educate the public on being more aware when you are driving," said Tom Tolman, Bountiful City Council member and chairman of the Bountiful Traffic Safety Committee. "Put the cell phone down, take the coffee cup out of your hand and don't put on your makeup and don't do the things that take you away from your driving."

The city's Traffic Management program is designed to educate drivers to slow down and be more responsible. It is set up to help address and correct driving habits of local residents.

The city has three major concerns it wants to remind residents of through the campaign.

First, all residential streets in Bountiful have a 25 mph speed limit, including downtown Main Street. The city's major collector streets are 30 and 35 mph, and only 500 West and Main Street north of 400 North are 40 mph.

Second, residents need to stop at stop signs.

"Stop at the stop sign, not halfway through, not your California stop they talk about," Tolman said. "No slowing down and rolling through."

Finally, the city wants to re-educate drivers about traffic lights — red means stop; yellow means caution, slow down and prepare to stop; and green means proceed with caution and observe the speed limit.

Tolman said a recent traffic survey reported that almost all of the traffic accidents in Bountiful that occurred at a traffic light were caused because people were speeding through the intersection trying to beat the light.

"I bet you'll find that in almost any place," he said. "It's just a normal bad habit for people to do, and it's just not safe at all."

Also as part of the safe driving campaign, the city began a Neighborhood Speed Watch Program to help control the speed of drivers within neighborhoods. The program involves the Bountiful Traffic Safety Committee, Bountiful police and local residents.

After being trained on the use of radar equipment and how to collect data, radar equipment is lent out to local residents. The residents then track vehicles driving in their neighborhood during the times they feel speeding to be at its worst.