Claudia Roldan

November 6, 2015
Activity Report
Traffic Control
New Mexico is considered to be one of the least safe states in the
United States, a reason for this is the high death rates due to traffic
accidents (Gutierrez.C, web). Many of the deaths are due to driving
under the influence of alcohol, but the state is currently doing
everything possible to catch the perpetrators. The rest of the vehicle
violations/incidents are not closely monitored or enforced. The lack of
enforcement on pedestrians, bicyclists and people operating a vehicle
under regular conditions, has caused the roads to be dangerous for
everyone in the city. Based on the lack of enforcement on New Mexico
citizens, especially in the city Albuquerque people do not feel like it is
necessary to follow the law when operating a vehicle. Based on the
lack of enforcement new regulations must be placed in the city to
increase the safety rate that has caused New Mexico to have a bad
reputation. Based on the lack of safety felt by residents, the situation
in New Mexico must change or else the problem will only keep
increasing. Some possible solutions to this problem that could be
implemented to improve the condition include: implementing a
pedestrian and bicycle outreach program, increase in police grant
money to be spent on patrolling/enforcing and ensure that the police
implements traffic laws on pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicle operators
New Mexico was ranked 44 in 2014s Safest States to live in, the
reason for the low rank is due to driving safety. When only taking
driving safety into consideration New Mexico ranks last in the nation.
There is even a youtube channel dedicated to the worst behind the
wheel in Albuquerque. Deadly crashes, DWI violations and pedestrian
fatalities are the three main reasons New Mexico ranks so low on
national driving safety (Gutierrez. C., web). People that do not drive
and prefer alternative modes of transportation, such as riding a bicycle
or walking are also in danger of inquiring injuries. New Mexico has the
second highest pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 populations at
2.92. More specifically Albuquerque has the third highest pedestrian
fatality rate with a city with a population higher than 500,000
according to the US Department of Transportation NHTSA (Traffic
Safety Facts, web).
Bicycles on the road are, by law, vehicles with the same rights,
and responsibilities as motorized vehicles. Based on national statistics

by the federal highway administration, 29% of bicyclists are either

injured or killed during a collision with a vehicle on the road. Most
bicyclists that are injured or killed during collision are males in an
urban area during 6-9 p.m. (U.S Department of Transportation:
Pedestrian and Bicyclist crash statistics, web). Laws that bicyclist must
be aware of when operating a bicycle that are currently being ignored
are as followed. Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be
granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties
applicable to the driver of a vehicle. Every bicycle when in use at
nighttime shall be equipped with a lamp on the front which shall emit a
white light visible from a distance of at least five hundred feet to the
front and with a red reflector on the rear of a type approved by the
division which shall be visible from all distances from fifty feet to three
hundred feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful upper beams of
head lamps on a motor vehicle. A lamp emitting a red light visible from
a distance of five hundred feet to the rear may be used in addition to
the red reflector. Any person operating a bicycle shall obey the
instructions of official traffic control signals, signs, and other control
devices applicable to vehicles, unless otherwise directed by a police
officer (Albuquerque Traffic Code concerning Bicycles, web). These
basic laws are being ignored on the daily basis by both the bicyclist
and by law enforcement, but not only do bicyclists are ignoring the law
but so are people operating vehicles.
Even with the high number of vehicle accidents and deaths in
Albuquerque, NM, there is only 1 officer patrolling for every 7,700
citizens; the city has a population of over 600,000 people (Laflin, N.,
web). The number of patrolling officer currently available to the city is
not high enough to enforce all traffic violations occurring in the city.
One of the most recent laws that are not being enforced to the degree
it should be is the operation of cell phones while driving. More
specifically texting and driving has caused people to maximize the
number of time they do not spend on driving, increasing the number of
accidents.
As the number of traffics deaths continues to increase and the
number of patrolling officers decreases in Albuquerque, the problem
will only continue to increase. The citizens of the Albuquerque should
not have to feel unsafe while driving their vehicles, riding a bicycle or
walking. The lack of safety due to traffic violations has caused people
to have higher anxiety and anger while operating a vehicle. An
example of this is the incident that occurred late October 2015, a 4-

year old girl was shot dead, and the family was injured during a road
rage accident (Hudetz, M., web). If either vehicle had been stopped
due to reckless driving the accident could have been prevented. The
importance of trying to improve traffic violation will not only decrease
the number of accidents but it will also increase the economy of the
city. If people feel safer they are more likely to drive safer and
decrease the number of accidents and deaths; the over all safety rank
will also increase the population and tourists, increasing the economy.
Some possible actions that can be taken to improve the traffic
control in Albuquerque, NM are as followed: implementing a pedestrian
and bicycle outreach program, increase in police grant money to be
spent on patrolling/enforcing and ensure that the police implements
traffic laws on pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicle operators.
Implementing a safety outreach program in the city will increase the
awareness of more people and it will also help teach a younger
generation the proper way to act as either a pedestrian, bicyclist or a
vehicle operator. Similar outreach programs are already in use in
different parts of the country making the transition easier because
there are guidelines available such as the National highway traffic
safety administration (NHTSA): Highway safety program guideline No.
14 Pedestrian and bicycle safety (web). The Albuquerque police
department is understaffed (Laflin, N., web) which is a contribution to
the lack of patrolling in the city and low safety rank. If the budget for
the department were to increase, then the number of patrol cars would
increase accordingly and the city would start improving. Because it is
easier for officers to catch vehicle offenders than it is bicyclists or
pedestrians, increasing the number of officers would help to increase
the number of officers patrolling in alternative transportation to catch
the perpetrators in alternative transportation.
As the safety of the citizens of Albuquerque, NM keep decreasing
because of traffic control. The number of death rates due to traffic
related accidents are too high and are closer to cities much larger than
Albuquerque. If the city wishes to improve both its image and safety, it
is important that they take the recommended actions by either
implementing outreach programs, increase in patrolling grants and/or
enforcing the law more strictly.

Sources:
Hudetz, M. Albuquerque road rage shooting suspect faces federal
charge. Associated Press. October 30, 2019.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/albuquerque-road-rage-shootingsuspect-faces-federal-charges-34867209
Laflin, N. APD staffing:1 officer for every 7,700 citizens. KOAT 7 abc
Albuquerque. March 25, 2015 http://www.koat.com/news/apd-staffing1-officer-for-every-7700-citizens/31997328
Albuquerque Traffic Code concerning Bicycles.<
http://www.nmcycling.org/advocacy/Abq_Bike_Traffic_Code.html>
National highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA). Highway safety
program guideline No. 14: Pedestrian and bicycle safety. November
2006.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/nhtsa/whatsup/tea21/tea21programs/pages/PedB
ikeSafety.htm
US Department of Transportation. Pedestrian and Bicyclist crash
statistics. http://www.pedbikeinfo.org/data/factsheet_crash.cfm#No1

US Department of Transportation NHTSA. Traffic Safety Facts: 2012

data. http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811888.pdf
Gutierrez, C. NM drivers ranked worst in the nation. KRQE news 13.
June 17, 2015. <http://krqe.com/2014/06/17/nm-drivers-ranked-worstin-the-nation>