After the Estonian authorities concluded that increasing speed while driving is one of the main challenges for the transport sector, The government innovation team has developed a new approach to reducing speed on the roads by using time-outs as a punishment for speeders instead of releasing financial violations. In an experiment to monitor the impact of the violation using time on drivers and the extent to which community members accept it.

Studies have revealed that overspeeding traffic accidents claim more than one million lives every year around the world. This applies even to European countries with strict traffic laws. Therefore, Governments are redoubling efforts to increase traffic awareness and traffic control. According to a study by the European Transport Safety Council, If the average speed in Europe were reduced by one kilometer per hour, This will help save 2,100 lives annually.

Over the course of 10 years, The efforts of the Estonian authorities have not been able to achieve a real reduction in the number of traffic accidents with human injuries. This prompted the government team to innovate and use the “Design Thinking” methodology to address this challenge according to a vision that puts the safety of community members at the center of its attention. To implement this vision, a team from diverse scientific backgrounds such as social anthropology, policy design and social behavior has been formed. Besides traffic and technological expertise.

The work began with the analysis of traffic culture in Estonia through the definition of speed and society’s view of mobility and its justification of drivers’ behaviors and choices. Interviews were also conducted targeting drivers from diverse backgrounds to gain a clear vision of the challenge. The team found that exceeding the speed limit within cities or on highways was socially acceptable. and even so natural that adherence to permitted speeds is reprehensible, Not to mention, driving at lower speeds is an obstruction of traffic. It was also found that traffic fines do not have the required impact on the behavior of drivers. According to the drivers themselves, Those who see it as a road tax. What caught the team’s attention was that drivers admitted to being annoyed by the time lost while waiting for the ticket to be issued or visiting police stations to retrieve their driver’s licenses.

So the working group thought about the possibility of using time as an alternative punishment, To launch an unprecedented experiment called the “Time-Out Station”, Where the driver is stopped when he exceeds the speed limit, If he does not have previous traffic violations, It is offered two options, Either pay a fine or wait on the side of the road for a set period of 45 to 60 minutes depending on the amount of speeding.

To check the validity of the idea, The team conducted an initial trial involving 400 participants. At first, The interventions were carried out on a highway between the cities of “Rabela” and “Tallinn”, The top speed was set at 90 kilometers per hour. 57% of drivers preferred to wait at time-out stations rather than pay a fine. The speeds of these drivers were also tracked after they left the “time-out station”, After crossing 3 kilometers and then 9 kilometers, To ensure that the penalty does not cause adverse effect, For example, if the driver tries to make up for lost time by increasing speed, for example, Which did not happen, The follow-up then continued by talking to the drivers by phone to monitor their reaction.

Despite the simplicity of this idea, The team has faced several challenges. This policy has necessitated the employment of significant human resources, 8 to 10 traffic police officers per 3 hours worked, This poses a challenge related to the exploitation of cadres and the payment of their wages, therefore, At the current stage, the team had to only use the idea intermittently to raise awareness of traffic safety. In the long run, Scalability is available through technology using cameras and station automation. Electronic boards can be installed at the entrances to major destinations to report vehicle numbers that should be stopped.

Nor do existing legal frameworks allow for the imposition of indiscriminate sanctions. They need societal support and a legal and ethical perspective. All of this was a challenge for the team, This affected the measurement of the real impact of punishment on the behavior of drivers, This is because it was not possible to carry out daily monitoring of each of them.

The biggest challenge will remain changing social norms. It is a long and difficult endeavor that requires years of directed efforts, But the community’s confidence in the experience is what the team was keen on, through the distribution of informational leaflets before, during and after the trial, He explained its foundations and causes.

And because it’s just an initial experiment, Efforts have focused on data collection and monitoring of community reactions. It does not have profound effects on traffic safety. Its most important effect was to encourage the Estonian police to test different methods based on a deeper understanding of human behaviour. Whereas the impact and acceptance of such measures cannot be foreseen by society, The project provided the government sector with a model case that proves the usefulness of experimenting with new policies even in punitive measures. In particular, the accompanying local and international media coverage also sparked traffic debates in Estonian society, which received it positively. Especially by comparing them to financial fines, which he sees as a source of the state budget.

The important issue that the idea was able to approach is equality in punishment, As the value of the fine estimated at 60 euros may vary from person to person according to his financial situation, But the 60 minutes still have the same value in any human life.

While work is underway to monitor the road condition and the behavior of drivers immediately after the experiment and in the long term, Today, the Ministry of Justice seeks to amend legislation, Following the submission by the Legal Affairs Committee of a bill to make waiting time a form of punishment, This will allow the idea to be developed, evaluated and disseminated in other countries.

References:

• https://oecd-opsi.org/innovations/win-a-minute-lose-an-hour-time-out-station-for-speeding-drivers/
• http://www.baltic-course.com/eng/transport/?doc=158645