11 Newsletter February 2014

Security

Community Safety by Mark Hall

On a daily basis I receive emails, phone calls and have personal meetings with residents regarding community safety issues and concerns. All of these communications are welcome due to the fact this is your community and your perception is what I need to be most concerned with. Undoubtedly, the most prevalent concern is roadway safety. Under the umbrella of roadway safety the major concerns are; 1. Speeding! This issue is being aggressively addressed by the deployment of the Traffic Hawk Speed Enforcement System. In the first three weeks of deployment a total of 75 residents were issued warning letters and 10 residents were required to appear before the Grievance Committee. In order to illustrate the relationship of vehicle speed to odds of pedestrian death in collisions, I have provided the research and chart below. If a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle travelling at 20 mph, the odds of dying are only 5%. However, if that same pedestrian was struck by a vehicle travelling at 40 mph, the odds of death increase to 85%. Therefore, I think it is evident why the speed limit within the community has been established at 25 mph and why it is so important to enforce this rule. 2. Is Frenchman’s Creek Drive and Tournament Drive one or two lanes? These two roadways are SINGLE LANE roads. They are very wide to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists, golf carts, maintenance personnel or security/ emergency vehicles. Vehicles should travel in the center of the roadways until they need to move over to accommodate for pedestrians, cyclists, golf carts, maintenance personnel or security/emergency vehicles. There is NO PASSING on Frenchman’s Creek roadways. Pedestrians walking in the correct direction (facing traffic). Security officers who encounter pedestrians walking with traffic instead of facing traffic will stop and request the pedestrian to move to the other side of the road. The vast majority of these encounters are very positive and the pedestrian complies with the request. This typically occurs during the holiday season when 3. Pedestrian Safety 

guests and relatives are present and are either unaware or forgot. I will continue to direct our officers to be vigilant in “redirecting” our pedestrians to walk in the right direction. In addition to our officers efforts, I have produced a video segment addressing this issue and all the other topics within this article that plays on Frenchman’s Creek television throughout the day.  Pedestrians walking three and four abreast instead of single file or no more than two abreast. This issue occurs throughout the year but becomes especially problematic during the holidays due to it happening more frequently. Security officers do speak to residents and guests about this issue, but it does not seem to reduce the occurrence. I would ask our residents not to walk more than two abreast when on property and be aware of those that do. Some of the most influential people in our lives are our peers. When residents point out safety issues to one another, they are more likely to heed the “advice”.

Your Safety is Our Priority .

February 2014 6