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City of Seattle
Gregory J. Nickels, Mayor
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NEWS ADVISORY
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| SUBJECT: Mayor launches 10-point pedestrian safety campaign
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
5/25/2005 10:00:00 AM |
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Patrice Gillespie Smith (206) 615-0486
Office of the Mayor (206) 684-4000
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Mayor launches 10-point pedestrian safety campaign
Program takes safety to the streets
SEATTLE - Walking the pedestrian talk, Mayor Greg Nickels today announced a comprehensive campaign to increase pedestrian safety and make Seattle streets safer. The campaign will launch with a series of TV and radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs), pedestrian street signs, billboards and a Web site urging people to “Drive Carefully…Think of the Impact You Could Make.” (To view/listen to the PSAs go to the mayor's Web site www.seattle.gov/mayor/issues/pedsafety )
“Year after year, Seattle wins awards for being a walkable city,” Nickels said. “I want to make sure residents and visitors can walk around Seattle safely - that means increasing pedestrian and driver awareness.”
The pedestrian campaign highlights the Mayor’s commitment to reduce the approximately 400 pedestrian collisions that happen every year. As part of the Mayor’s 10-point campaign, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) will step up its safe pedestrian education efforts by increasing visits to schools during the school year and adding visits to day camps at community centers this summer. The Police Department will also develop an educational video and brochure with pedestrian tips to share with children during these visits.
Additionally, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will install new pedestrian safety signs in high pedestrian corridors to increase driver awareness of pedestrians. For those not influenced by these steps, SPD is stepping up enforcement through monthly emphasis patrols targeting motorists who fail to yield to pedestrians and continued enforcement of the “Don’t Block the Box signs.”
“Even one pedestrian collision is too many. We want to do everything possible to reduce pedestrian risks,” said Nickels. “In addition to our public education efforts, I’m going to push for increased penalties for failing to stop for a pedestrian.”
The complete 10-point pedestrian safety campaign includes:
- Launching PSAs and a Web site featuring the three most common pedestrian v. automobile conflicts
- Installing new pedestrian safety signs
- Posting billboards that reinforce pedestrian safety messages
- Improving walking routes around two schools (TT Minor and Bailey Gatzert)
- Stepping up education efforts at schools and community centers, including the production of an education video and brochure for children
- Increasing enforcement of pedestrian safety laws
- Re-marking or upgrading 110 crosswalks at 50 intersections
- Increasing the fine for drivers who ”fail to stop for pedestrians”
- Rotating speed limit trailers that tell drivers their speed throughout the city to get motorists to slow down
- Piloting a Red Light Photo Enforcement program
View a list of proposed locations for billboards and signs - Adobe PDF 16 kb
“Every neighborhood should begin to see an increased emphasis on pedestrian safety,” said Nickels. “We hope these efforts help drivers remember the other users of the road.”
Based on federal research which shows that hearing about the consequences of inattentive driving resonates with the public, the new tag line - “Drive Carefully, Think of the Impact You can Make” - has proven to be effective. Viewers will begin seeing the TV PSAs starting today on the Seattle Channel. Material for these PSAs was provided, in part, by the Federal Highway Administration.
The three most common types of pedestrian vs. automobile conflicts are when motorists make a right or a left turn at an intersection and when drivers on a multiple lane road stop for a pedestrian, but traffic in the accompanying lane does not stop.
Clear Channel has agreed to donate billboard space at 10 of Seattle's major pedestrian intersections to bring greater visibility to the Mayor's Pedestrian Campaign.
Get the mayor’s inside view on initiatives to promote transportation, public safety, economic opportunity and healthy communities by signing up for The Nickels Newsletter at www.seattle.gov/mayor/newsletter_signup.htm.
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Office of the Mayor
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