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Citation |
Raub RA. Transp. Res. Rec. 1985; 1047: 83-88. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 1985, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences USA, Publisher SAGE Publishing) |
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DOI |
unavailable |
PMID |
unavailable |
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Abstract |
In 1982, based on a study of fuel use and vehicle accidents, the Illinois Department of State Police began a test of the effects of removing roof-mounted emergency lights from police patrol vehicles. The test group consisted of 120 vehicles, half of which had their roof-mounted lights removed. The vehicles were randomly issued in pairs to officers who had similar patrols in rural regions. After 6 months, the fuel economy, vehicle accidents, and productivity of the officers were compared. Significant improvements were found for those officers driving vehicles without roof-mounted lights. More vehicles without roof-mounted lights were placed in service in early 1983. This study compares 208 vehicles with and without roof-mounted lights for the April 1982 through January 1984 time period. The officers drove these vehicles more than 5.5 million miles. All officers had similar driving records before the study was conducted. The results show that those officers who drove vehicles without roof-mounted lights improved their fuel mileage by 7 percent, were 25 percent more productive in speed enforcement (but not in overall enforcement), and were involved in 65 percent fewer accidents per million vehicle miles traveled. All results are statistically significant. The findings suggest that removing roof-mounted lights from police vehicles that patrol rural regions reduces fuel and accident costs and improves productivity. Language: en |
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Keywords |
TRANSPORTATION - Costs; AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS; STREET TRAFFIC CONTROL - Emergency Measures; VEHICLES - Fuel Economy |