Traffic fatalities in Delaware is the focus of Chris Flood’s column in the Nov. 28 edition of the Cape Gazette. Coincidently, a newly formed committee in Rehoboth Beach has been given a green light by the board of commissioners to study ways to improve traffic safety. The streets & safety advisory committee has committed to take up the topic at future meetings.
Flood’s column highlights two important details that concerned citizens of the city have been promoting under the banner of traffic calming. First, he references Kayla Mason, Office of Highway Safety community relations officer, who said enforcement, public outreach and media campaigns have played a significant role in driving fatalities numbers downward. It is that same combination of actions that was presented to the city committee at its first meeting as a traffic-calming endeavor worth pursuing.
Looking at the statistical chart accompanying Flood’s column, the second detail stood out – intersection-related fatalities. Over the three years shown, the percentages were 30.5% in 2025, 36.4% in 2024 and 25.4% in 2023. This data is significant. One of the most effective ways to use traffic calming is at intersections; there are a variety of measures that can be employed to reduce the risk to pedestrians, bicyclists and other motorists. For example, stop signs and painted crosswalks are two inexpensive, yet highly effective and well-established measures that can be employed as part of a meaningful traffic-calming program.
The city’s committee members should consider the two points in Flood’s column; it would get the new committee off to a good start.
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