As of August 2001, the
Positive Rewards Program for Safe Drivers is underway, and it will continue
through the early Fall or until funds are exhausted.
This program will involve
the Madison Police Department, and is supported by funds from the Safe
Community Coalition and also from the east-Madison Target store.
In this program, officers
in Madison's TEST program (Traffic
Engineering Safety Team) will identify those who drive safely through the
Tenney-Lapham neighborhood. They
will send the registered driver of such vehicles a $10.00 gift certificate for
Target.
Working with Stacey Vilas
of the Madison Police, we have arrived at the following criteria for safe
driving:
1. Obeying the speed
limit
2. Maintaining a
safe-distance from other cars
3. Using turn-signals
(directionals) to change lanes
4. Yielding to
pedestrians
5. Obeying the traffic
signals
a.
Not going through red lights
b.
Not speeding through a yellow light
6. Not yielding to
pressure from other drivers
7. Not blaring loud,
throbbing music from the vehicle
8. Not using the car
phone while driving
These criteria include
elements of safe driving that should be generally observed and also include
items brought up at various times by members of the Tenney-Lapham
neighborhood. In discussing our
goals with Officer Vilas, we mentioned intersections of particular concern to
individuals in this area.
As of early August, the
Madison Police Department has posted officers with radar devices on East Gorham
St., and this has proven to be a means of calming traffic, if only for a few
moments. We hope that the Positive
Rewards Program would have a deeper effect. At best, those who receive one of the over 50 gift
certificates offered will remember the good habits they practiced and continue
to do so. Perhaps they will
mention this to their friends and children, so that others may realize that
practicing safe driving has its rewards.
Salvatore Calomino and
James Zychowicz