Volunteers conduct outreach while staffing a booth at a local festival
A group of community volunteers are making a real difference in the Wheaton area as they help to spread the word about pedestrian safety. The community members represent neighborhood civic associations including Connecticut Avenue Estates, Montclair Manor, and Rock Creek Palisades, as well as the Hispanic/Latino community.
With help from MCDOT, the Montgomery County Police Department, and Fire and Rescue Service, in coordination with the Maryland Highway Safety Office, community volunteers have been participating in outreach efforts such as fairs, festivals and community meetings. They talk to pedestrians on the street and visiting community events and distribute reusable bags containing pedestrian safety information.
A YouTube video highlights some of their activities over the last few months. The effort was also recently featured by the Montgomery County Council. If you would like to volunteer, contact Joana Conklin with MCDOT's pedestrian safety program at 240.777.7195 or by email.
I would like to have some data on what changes have occurred as the result of the outreach. Are fewer pedestrians being hit? Outreach itself is not a result.
ReplyDeleteConnie, thank you so much for your question. Outreach education has been a key component of the county’s Pedestrian Safety Initiative since it was launched in 2008. The Initiative’s efforts focus on educating residents, engineering safer roadways and intersections, and enforcing safety laws. These efforts target areas across the county with the highest pedestrian collision rates (termed "high incidence areas"). Since 2008, there has been a 43% decrease in pedestrian collisions in these high incident areas, and a 21% decrease in severe pedestrian collisions across the county.
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