It is officially summer vacation season, which means that over the coming months, families across the country will be traveling to enjoy sunny excursions.
Travel numbers reached an all-time high over the weekend of Memorial Day 2024 with the TSA accounting for 2,951,163 individuals at checkpoints nationwide, marking the unofficial start of the summer travel season. According to Deloitte’s summer travel trends research, road trip plans are seeing an uptick. They report, “Seven in ten US travelers say they plan to take a road trip this year, up from 57% in 2023.”
Where are all of these travelers going? Locations on the water are among the most popular destinations, so places that have the best beaches and top lakes are bracing for an influx of visitors. While this is great economic news for local businesses and summer job seekers, it can mean big headaches for local law enforcement, if they are unprepared.
From increased traffic congestion on main routes to distracted tourists in vehicles and on foot, all of this can create more than a nuance, but a serious safety risk for everyone in the area.
Being Prepared Keeps Things Under Control
Some vacation destination towns are successfully dealing with increased tourist traffic by planning and preparing ahead of time. The Community Policing Dispatch e-newsletter addressed how to meet the challenges of policing tourist destinations, suggesting augmenting forces with seasonal personnel.
For example, Cape May, New Jersey, is a beach resort with a year-round local population of about 5,400 that grows to around 60,000 in summer. The local police hire police students to expand their forces each summer. While increasing police officers is a necessary strategy in some cases, it is not an option for many areas, nor is it always necessary.
Addressing Tourist Traffic Challenges Cost-Effectively
Some travel destinations, like the beach resort in New Jersey, are known to attract party crowds, which may require additional patrols. There are many more, however, that simply need to deal with increased traffic challenges as well as drivers and pedestrians who are unfamiliar with the area. Fortunately, there are more economical and flexible ways to deal with potential problems from tourist traffic. For example, Park City, Utah has deployed radar speed trailers around the city to deal with increased traffic from a growing population, as well as the onslaught of tourists in the area.
Speed Awareness Tools
Speed awareness products alert drivers of local speed limits, and can also provide important information to tourists, such as hurricane alerts or other weather warnings. They are easy to deploy and lead to lower speeds in areas where they are deployed. Messaging trailers can also be used as safety guides for pedestrians, informing them of traffic flow and yielding expectations for foot traffic.
The following are effective and affordable speed awareness tools from Kustom Signals that can assist law enforcement agencies in summer vacation destinations.
RADAR Speed Displays
RADAR speed signs and displays have proven to be effective in making roads safer in a variety of traffic applications. Pole mounted displays (PMDs) are RADAR speed displays that reduce speeding through awareness by displaying driver speeds in real time.
- PMD 12 – portable unit that’s easy to relocate and features reliable power for up to seven days
- PMD 18 – includes an 18-character display and optional configuration for a red LED ‘Slow Down’ overspeed violator alert
RADAR Speed Trailers
SMART Speed Trailers are easy to deploy and effective for increasing speed awareness and improving road safety.
- SMART 12 Speed Trailer – features Directional K-band RADAR, 12” high intensity Amber LED display, and optional traffic statistics with SMARTstat™
- SMART 18 Speed Trailer – features 18” (46 cm) high-intensity amber LED display, high and low speed blanking, and wireless configuration
- SMART 18 HP+ Speed Trailer – features SMARTstat™, 4-hour single cycle on/off timer, and only displays speed on approaching target
Messaging Trailers
Kustom Signals Messaging Trailers offer high performance, easy mobility, and the latest in traffic data recording technology. Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) ready configurations are also available. Messaging trailers make it convenient and easy to make motorists aware of their speed, but they’re ideal for various community relations, from traffic and weather alerts to helping funnel crowds to event venues and resorts.
- VMS I – designed for static and dynamic messages, can be quickly and easily installed. Amber LED lights provide outstanding visibility
- VMS II HT – easily attached to, and transported by, almost any vehicle using the removable 2” ball hitch
- VMS III – can be easily attached to, and transported by, almost any vehicle using the removable 2” ball hitch
Traffic Data Collection
The Stealth Stat II, a covert traffic data collector, helps law enforcement agencies collect and analyze the essential traffic data needed to identify speeding issues and problematic traffic areas.
Marine RADAR
In beach vacation destinations, local law enforcement must also deal with enforcing marine traffic safety. Falcon Marine is effective for surveilling targets on water. It can track multiple targets, measure speed in both knots or mph, and display individual readings for approaching, receding, or bi-directional targets.To learn more about Kustom Signals speed awareness products and cost-effective traffic law enforcement strategies, please contact us today and we can answer any questions.