• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Logo

Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse

Library of Resources to Improve Roadway Work Zone Safety for All Roadway Users

  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
  • X
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Work Zone Data
    • At a Glance
    • National & State Traffic Data
    • Work Zone Traffic Crash Trends and Statistics
    • Worker Fatalities and Injuries at Road Construction Sites
  • Topics of Interest
    • Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
    • Smart Work Zones
    • Work Zone Safety and MobilityTransportation Management Plans
    • Accommodating Pedestrians
    • Worker Safety and Welfare
    • Project Coordination in Work Zones
  • Training
    • Online Courses
    • FHWA Safety Grant Products
    • Toolboxes
    • Flagger
    • Certification and
      Accreditation
  • Work Zone Devices
  • Laws, Standards & Policies
  • Public Awareness
  • About
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Search
Publication

Driver Perceptions of Traffic-Calming Versus Active Enforcement Efforts in Work Zones

Author/Presenter: Ullman, Gerald L.; Brewer, Marcus A.
Abstract:

Many highway agencies wrestle with the question of how best to use enforcement personnel to improve work zone safety. Some agencies prefer to position the enforcement officer and vehicle at key locations (often upstream of a work crew) to be a visible enforcement presence and serve a traffic-calming role. Other agencies prefer to have enforcement personnel actively identify, pursue, and cite violators. Those favoring active enforcement efforts are concerned that the use of enforcement for traffic-calming purposes reduces enforcement credibility and effectiveness over time. Those favoring traffic-calming use of enforcement worry that pursuit and citation activities periodically moves the enforcement officer and vehicle away from the desired position in the work zone and so the traffic-calming effect at that location is temporarily lost. This paper presents the results of a survey of driver perceptions and self-reported behaviors when drivers encounter enforcement vehicles and personnel in work zones. Responses from regions where enforcement was deployed exclusively for traffic-calming purposes were compared with regions where enforcement was deployed exclusively for identification, pursuit, and citation of traffic law violators. The results indicate that drivers do indeed realize how enforcement is being used in a particular region, especially if it is for visibility and attention-getting purposes. However, this awareness did not translate to a difference in how drivers believed they reacted when encountering an enforcement vehicle in a work zone, nor did it affect vehicle speed reductions when an enforcement vehicle was present in a work zone.

Source: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Volume: 2425
Issue: 1
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Publication Date: January 1, 2014
Full Text URL: Link to URL
Publication Types: Books, Reports, Papers, and Research Articles
Topics: Law Enforcement; Perception; Speed Limits

Copyright © 2025 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse is a project of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation. It is operated in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Texas A&M Transportation Institute. | Copyright Statement · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer
American Road and Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation, American Road and Transportation Builders Association U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Texas A&M Transportation Institute