Effects of Gateway on Reducing Vehicle Speeds in School Zones

In the past five years, 31 children have been died and 2,581 children injured in School Zone.As a result of frequent accidents in School Zone, there is growing concern about safety measure for the Transportation Vulnerable.In order to prevent accidents occurring in School Zone, the government and the private agencies are seeking various safety measures.Most of safety measures are installing and operating the traffic safety facilities, and the main purpose of the operation is to reduce vehicle speeds.Currently, safety sings, driver feedback sign, speed bumps and speed cameras are in operation to reduce vehicle speeds.Interventions, except for expensive speed cameras and speed bumps, were found to be ineffective compared with the cost.Therefore, alternative interventions need to be considered in terms of cost, long-term effects and visibility.This study verified the effect of Gateway (Gateway in-street sign) on vehicle speeds and drivers' compliance with speed limit.The experiment was conducted in a school zone in Dongjak-gu, Seoul.A total of 3,378 vehicle speeds were measured.The results demonstrated that the Gateway was effective in reducing vehicle speeds and increasing speed limit compliance.Based on these results, it will be possible to find ways to consider human factors in the operation and design of traffic safety facilities in the future.