Charles Dornsife's Background

Speed Limits

Since the late 60's Dornsife has been a student of proper traffic engineering and speed management principles, traffic control devices and highway safety practices. His professional career has, either directly or indirectly, revolved around every aspect of these issues. Over this period, Dornsife has attended untold numbers of public works, industry and safety conferences and trade shows as part of his work as a consultant in product marketing and development. Paying special attention to new processes and products that may have cross applications.

This endeavor has caused him to log 2 million plus road miles as a motorist continuously crisscrossing the entire North American Continent, including Canada and Alaska. This real life experience has been invaluable as it has afforded him an opportunity to see how different areas have addressed some of these problems; and more importantly, he's been able to hear the different perspectives of what they see as the problems they face and its solutions.

Registered Lobbyist and Regulatory Agency Liaison:

National Motorists Association (NMA) (14 years): Nevada Chapter, spokesperson promoting sound traffic engineering practices based on the MUTCD; FHWA, ASSHTO and ITE guidelines.
Tahoe Regional Planing Agency, technical advisory committee on air quality and transportation (4 years) and Team Tahoe (3 years)
Northwest Lighting Conference/North American Automotive Lighting Assoc.: Sponsored and organized public safety clinics.
Guest speaker at regional ITE conference: Setting speed limits and relative risk of being involved on an accident.
Guest panelist at state level FHWA sponsored speed limit workshops
Invited as only non-government participant to Caltrans speed limit policy discussion group.
California Public Defenders resource list: Issues regarding traffic control devices

Positions:

Management of law enforcement trade publication: Police Product News
Marketing Director Emergency Equipment Engineering: Law enforcement and fire equipment
Owned and operated specialty contracting firm that installed traffic loops, expansion joints and delineation aids in existing pavement.
Technical lighting advisor and consultant: Snow plow and public safety vehicle lighting for severe winter driving, as well as for racing teams where the events ran into the night; Daytona 24 hrs, Baja off-road events etc.
Campaigned SCCA pro-rally for 14 years and for short period trained drivers in performance driving techniques. (forest roads at night, snow, fog, ice, mud, dust etc.)

Consulting, Research & Development and marketing safety products.

Projects have included: Flush mounted roadway delineation, rumple strip installation, retro reflectivity of sign and clothing materials, highway grooving and profiling, snow and ice removal, bridge and highway expansion joints, traffic control devices, impact barriers, construction zone delineation and safety, myriad of winter driving aids, emergency response equipment, school bus safety, automotive lighting, winter traction control devices and tire applications.

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The NMA's Position

Speed limits should be based on sound traffic-engineering principles that consider responsible motorists' actual travel speeds. Typically, this should result in speed limits set at the 85th percentile speed of free-flowing traffic (the speed under which 85 percent of traffic is traveling). These limits should be periodically adjusted to reflect changes in actual traffic speeds.