STA, 21 October - Life-size cut outs of traffic officers, which were set up in Posočje in August to improve road safety, have turned out to be highly effective, reducing speed limit violations by more than 80%. The north-western region is infamous for reckless motorcycle riders using local roads for racing.
The Traffic Safety Agency (AVP) tested the measure in October and gathered reliable evidence that showed drivers would slow down upon noticing the cut outs. The test included more than 1,000 vehicles.
The traffic watchdog has thus decided to carry on with the measure, which has been proven to swiftly reduce the average speed and dissuade the drivers from committing traffic violations.
The agency's head Vesna Marinko said that the cut outs had reduced the speed rate by up to 20%.
"Experience suggests that this measure is effective when the location of cut outs is changed often," said Marinko.
The number of traffic offences has been diminished as well - by 68% and 89% in two different locations.
The Koper Police Department is expected to start using the cut outs soon as well. Meanwhile, the agency plans to implement additional preventive measures next year.
However, it was not just the drivers who apparently noticed the cut outs and hit the brakes - at the start of September, three cut outs got some extra attention, being stolen.
