Dunwoody Police worked July 16 to “slow people down” on Tilly Mill Road, where many drivers hit speeds as high as 55 MPH, in a 35 MPH area, a police spokesman said.
PEDS, the region’s leading advocate for pedestrians, collaborated with police on the speed enforcement event for pedestrian safety July 16 as part of its “Slow Down, Save Lives” initiative, which started in March.
In addition to multiple speed and crosswalk enforcement operations, yellow “Slow Down!” signs are being posted throughout the Atlanta region by concerned citizens who want safer streets in their residential areas, Officer Tim Fecht said.
About four pedestrians a day are hit by drivers in metro Atlanta and Dunwoody officers targeted speeding drivers along Tilly Mill Road because the area is known to have high rates of pedestrian crashes, he said.
Speed is a crucial factor in how likely someone is to survive if hit by a car, Fecht said.
Officer Chris Irwin, who used radar to track the speed of passing cars, said traffic enforcement is all about educating drivers.
“We’re just trying to get people to slow down and hopefully become more observant of crosswalks,” Fecht said.
About a month or two ago, an officer dressed up like a civilian and tried to cross the major intersection at Tilly Mill Road and Andover Drive, Fecht said.
“We had several citations that day,” he said. “People just flat-out won’t stop or he’d get halfway across the intersection and then oncoming cars would not let him finish [crossing],” Fecht said.
Ever since re-paving Tilly Mill Road, Fecht said people drive like “it’s a nice drag strip,” and many people who live in the subdivisions have a hard time exiting—especially to turn left, he said.
“So we’ve been out here consistently trying to slow people down,” Fecht said.
A total of 12 citations and three warnings were issued before the detail ended at 4 p.m., Fecht said.