Because Safety is No Accident
VIP is a new remedial training program brought you by the Berkeley Department of Transportation (DOT) and Berkeley City College. This “reeducation” opportunity is available to Berkeley residents and anyone cited by the DOT for a moving violation. Attending the VIP program will allow the participant to have the violation removed from their driving record — Prius drivers will also have the option of attending Prius Confessional. The mission of the collaboration is to enhance vehicular safety through early intervention and education. The program consists of a series of seminars designed to educate drivers about Berkeley’s most hazardous driving situations.
Council member Rigel Robinson, one of the program’s champions, stated, “conceptually, the program is modeled after our goal of leading the nation in refocusing traffic enforcement efforts on equitable enforcement, focusing on a cooperative compliance model rather than a punitive model.”
The curriculum was developed by a combination of systematically analyzing (1) Nextdoor posts to determine which situations cause drivers the greatest anxiety and (2) remote sensing devices to document where one driver flips the bird to another most frequently.
Based on this quantitive analysis, the VIP program includes the following seminars:
- Whether or Not You Think It’s Your Turn is Irrelevant: Navigating Marin Circle. This session presents observational data demonstrating that following established rules of the road, rather than making them up as you go along, prevents car crashes. Participants will learn to give way to vehicles already in the Circle.
- Facilitated Driving: What the Vigili Mean for Berkeley: Berkeley’s newest traffic safety team, the Vigili, are here to enhance safety. Participants will learn how to interpret Italian gesticulation.
- Putting on Your Hazard Lights Does Not Make It Ok: Whether your are running to grab your Gregoire order or get cash from the ATM, putting on your hazard indicators does not make it ok to double park or use the red zone. This session is also open to Uber and Lyft drivers regardless of circumstances.
- Its a Bike Lane Not a Parking Spot, Get a Clue: We know its confusing that the area closest to the curb is painted green, but this is a new era. Participants will learn the ins and outs of Class II bike lanes and “parking isles.”
- I am in the Berkeley Bowl Parking Lot and My Blood Pressure is Through the Roof: Heart attacks are deadly and going fisticuffs with the person that “snaked” your spot can be dangerous too. Participants will learn how much time can actually be saved by parking a block away from the Berkeley Bowl. There is a concurrent session for the Acme Bread / Kermit Lynch and Monterey Market parking lot.
Whether or Not You Think It’s Your Turn is Irrelevant: Navigating Marin Circle