As school starts - pedestrians, motorists reminded to travel safely

  • Published
  • By Capt. Chad Atkinson-Adams
  • 100th Security Forces Squadron
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Monday. 7 a.m. It's been a great weekend and you're headed to the Shoppette for a coffee refill on your way to start the week. You come around the corner through the roundabout and hear something on the radio that catches your attention.

A quick glance down, just for a second. When you look up, there's a child in the crosswalk in front of you. You slam on your brakes, but it's too late.

You don't understand - you were only doing 15 mph, and you only looked away for a second. How did you travel that far? How could this happen?

It only takes seconds to change someone's life. On average, it takes a normal person approximately two seconds to react when faced with an unexpected event while driving. Speed, road and vehicle conditions all contribute to how long it will actually take you to stop. On dry roads, vehicles slow down at a rate of 15 feet per second, per second. In the above scenario, the extra five miles per hour meant an additional 17 feet were required to stop the car to avoid the irreparable damage that resulted from one moment of distraction and excessive speed.

Here at RAF Mildenhall, traffic safety is an extremely important concept and practice. The 100th Security Forces Squadron and Team Mildenhall's leaders want to ensure all of us and our families are able to work and play safely.

As with every installation, there exists written guidance to help create these conditions; here, that guidance is Mildenhall Instruction 31-218 Motor Vehicle/Traffic Supervision. It is important for all of Team Mildenhall to be aware of the rules and regulations which govern how we drive on the installation.

The consequences for failing to follow the regulation can be quite severe. For example:

If a driver is caught driving on the installation without their seatbelt or using a cell phone without a hands free device, whether texting or talking, the driver will receive a traffic citation from the 100th SFS. The driver will also have his/her driving privileges suspended on the spot for seven calendar days following the first offense. If the member is caught a second time, the driver's privileges will be suspended for 14 days. A third offense will result with the suspension of 30 days.

Failing to display a valid road tax disc will result in a driver being ticketed and having two points assessed from their driving record. Points are also assessed on a graded scale for speed limit violations: 1 to 10 mph over the speed limit (three points), 11 to 15 mph over the speed limit (four points), 16 to 20 mph over the speed limit (five points), more than 20 mph over the speed limit (six points).

As the new school year begins and the season changes, it is especially important to be conscious of the posted speed limits, particularly in the areas surrounding bus stops. Expect to see an increase in pedestrian traffic in the morning and late afternoons, and remember that pedestrians have the right-of-way at crosswalks.

As fellow members of Team Mildenhall, we at the 100th SFS will continue to help provide and maintain a safe area to work and live in. We urge you, our partners, to take time to be safe. Whether on your way to work, or heading to the Exchange for a bite, remember that your choices may mean the difference in someone else's life. Thank you for being a part of our team.

Editor's note: Vehicle braking/stopping distance and time calculations were made using formulas available at www.csgnetwork.com/stopdistinfo.html. No federal endorsement intended or implied.