| Traffic signals |
- Rarely are traffic signals installed for the purposes of improving traffic safety
- Most traffic signals are installed to minimize unnecessary delay
- An evaluation of intersections showed that collisions increased between 11% and 40% after traffic signals were installed
- Angle collisions which are far less frequent but tend to be more severe in terms of resulting injury were reduced between approximately 3% and 28%
- For more information go to the Signs and Signals page
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| Right-turn Smart Channel |
- Drivers in a traditional channelized right-turn lane are forced to look over their shoulder for approaching vehicles while veering their vehicle to the right, taking their attention away from the road
- Smart channels help reduce this angle so drivers can focus more of their attention to the road and vehicles in front of them
- Smart channels have shown an 86% reduction in all rear-end collisions and a 73% reduction in rear-end collisions causing injury
- They also help to create a better environment for pedestrians as the design helps to reduce vehicle speeds
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| Pedestrian Countdown Signals |
- Pedestrian countdown signals give a visual indication of how much time is remaining to cross
- This helps to reduce the number of collisions involving pedestrians by approximately 30%
- There has been no significant change in the number of collisions involving vehicles
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| Roundabouts |
- A review of intersections on Region of Waterloo roads replaced with a roundabout indicates that collisions involving injuries or fatalities have been reduced by approximately 51%
- Collisions in general increased slightly by approximately 35%
- Go the the Roundabouts page for more information
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| Set-back Left-turn Traffic Signal Detectors |
- Detectors are embedded into the road to detect waiting vehicles at signalized intersections
- Setting them back from the stop bar allows a traffic signal to skip a left-turn advance signal phase when there is little demand or no vehicle present
- The traffic signal can reassign more time to the main green signal which will better service the
 e majority of motorists waiting to go straight through the intersection
- Skipping left-turn phases may seem to contradict the purpose of traffic signals however our studies suggest that traffic signals that serve demand more effectively can result in improved safety
- This initiative, has resulted in reduced collisions involving left-turning motorists by approximately 19%
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| Advanced Left-turn Signals |
- Despite many beliefs, advanced left-turn signals typically do not make intersections safer
- A study of 13 locations over a total of 39 study years (average 3 years per location) determined that there was no resulting safety benefit
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| Road diets |
- Road diet is a term for a project that reduces the number of regular travel lanes on a roadway
- A typical road diet would see 4-lanes reduced to 3 lanes
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Median and Pedestrian Refuge Islands
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- Pedestrians cross roadways between intersections, despite knowingly taking on risk and increasing vulnerability.
- Median or pedestrian refuge islands can be a place of refuge for pedestrians
 Collisions involving pedestrians have been reduced by as much as 80% where installed
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High-Visibility Ladder Crosswalks
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- Approximately 100 people are hit every year at traffic signals
- The majority of these collisions occur in crosswalks while the pedestrian has the right-of-way
- To help reduce pedestrian collision at traffic signals, traditional crosswalks are being replaced with high-visibility ladder crosswalks
 Where installed, collisions have been reduced by approximately 70%.
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Right-Turn Overlap Signal
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- A right-turn overlap signal comes on at a signalized intersection during another conflicting movement
- Enabling motorists intending to turn right to proceed without having to stop for a red light
- Analysis of this operation has shown that collisions involving right-turning motorists have been reduced by approximately 25%
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Setting Speed Limits
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- Speed limits are set as close as possible to the observed average speed travelled by motorists
- By doing this the frequency of tailgating and unsafe passing is reduced
- Collision analyses have determined that collisions have been reduced by 66% where speed limits have been increased from 60 to 70 kilometres per hour to better reflect average observed speed of motorists. Alternatively, total collisions increased by 63% when decreasing speed limits from 80 to 70 kilometres per hour in cases where speed limits were set lower without consideration of observed average speed
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Rural All-way Stop Intersections
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- All-way stops are installed at locations either to minimize unnecessary delay or to reduce higher than normal angle or turning related collisions
- All-way stop intersections installed for safety reasons have reduced collisions by 72% on average
- All-way stops have proved to be a very effective way to improve safety
- It is important to avoid overuse of all-way stop-controlled intersections to maintain their effectiveness and driver compliance
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Offset Crosswalks
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- About 100 pedestrians are struck in crosswalks at traffic signals in the Region every year
- The most common pedestrian collision happens at signalized intersections from motorists turning left
- Left-turning motorists typically scan for a gap in opposing traffic, commit to the turn and turn into the path of a crossing pedestrian stepping off the curb
- Offset crosswalks relocate traditional crosswalks a little further back to provide left and right turning motorists additional time and space to observe and react to pedestrians
 The offset crosswalk also provides motorists an area to stop beyond the pathway of oncoming vehicles should they yield to a pedestrian after committing to a turn
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