More than 44,000 Americans died in motor vehicle crashes in 2022, including more than 8,000 pedestrians. Another 140,000 pedestrians went to the emergency room after being hit by a car.
The number of people injured and killed by automobiles has been increasing for several years, exacerbated by cellphone use, the coronavirus pandemic and an increase in street racing.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
The Atlanta area, including Decatur, where I am a city commissioner, has not avoided the increase in automobile-related deaths and injuries experienced across the nation. In Decatur, we have had two pedestrian fatalities and 12 experience incapacitating injuries in the past five years. Two school crossing guards were hit while trying to help children cross the street.
The overwhelming cause of these deaths and injuries is drivers not obeying the law. Speeding. Running red lights and stop signs. Driving distracted. Driving under the influence. All are illegal not just in Decatur, but across Georgia, too.
Elected officials, including me, have a responsibility not just to pass laws but also to ensure that they are enforced. We have a responsibility to hold people accountable for illegal actions that endanger our residents.
That is why it was disheartening to read the Gridlock Guy’s Dec. 22 column, in which he complained about local jurisdictions enforcing traffic laws. He singled out Decatur, implying that our motivation for enforcing the law is revenue, not protecting our residents.
The impetus for Doug Turnbull’s column appeared to be that he got a ticket for running a red light in Kennesaw, where he “was dead to rights on the camera.” Turnbull noted that “if I had known (the camera) was there, I would not have tried to squeeze through the light.” Instead of taking responsibility for his own decision to speed up and try to get through the light, he seemed to find fault in Kennesaw for failing to give him adequate warning that it would enforce the law.
Turnbull’s underlying argument was that drivers are more likely to obey the law if they know that they will be caught and held responsible for their actions — that telling drivers they are on camera will increase compliance and improve safety.
Though this might be true, so is the converse. When drivers believe that they are not on camera and unlikely to be held accountable for their actions, they are more apt to break the law and endanger their fellow residents.
Twenty-five thousand people call Decatur home, and we have a responsibility to those residents. There are rules when you are in our home. Stop at the red light. Go no faster than the speed limit. Yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. These rules are not unique to Decatur.
Decatur wants drivers to know there are consequences for breaking the law in our city. We cannot station police officers at every intersection. Instead, we and other jurisdictions have placed cameras at key areas, especially school zones, where data show lawbreaking and dangerous driving is occurring, because we want drivers to follow the law and keep our children, crossing guards and residents safe — because drivers breaking the law have killed and injured too many people already.
Decatur is not installing cameras to generate revenue. As I have stated in commission meetings, I favor traffic cameras even if they lose money. Installing cameras is about public safety and holding lawbreakers accountable. It is about letting residents know we are looking out for them.
At the end of the day, if you don’t want a speeding ticket, don’t speed. If you don’t want a ticket for running a red light, don’t run a red light. If you don’t want a ticket for distracted driving, don’t drive distracted.
That would make us all safer and happier.
George Dusenbury is a Decatur city commissioner.
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