Effectiveness of Double Fines as a Speed Control Measure in Safety Corridors

The use of elevated traffic fines, and specifically doubling of applicable traffic fines under certain conditions, is widely used in Oregon as a speed control measure. Double fines have applied to “safety corridors” in Oregon since 1999. Double fine signing in safety corridors has been used on a trial basis in two locations. While safety advocates promote the use of signing to alert drivers of double fines, there has been little if any compelling evidence produced to date that it is effective in crash reduction. This research effort is based on a telephone survey of 651 adult Oregon drivers, who were asked about their decision to speed in a variety of different situations, to determine whether their judgments differed from one situation to another. The results were used to infer indirectly whether double fine signing was influencing their judgments. The analysis of the survey results showed that when considering safety corridors, people do not report the same elevated perception of crash risk that they report for work zones and school zones. They also do not have the same elevated perception of citation or fine risk. If it is recommended that double fine signing in safety corridors be retained, the report concludes that other countermeasure enhancements should also be considered to achieve more effective speed control in safety corridors.