The Pedestrian Safety Review Board will launch its On the Move campaign in August and will focus on educating people about the roles and responsibilities of pedestrians, drivers, and passengers as the move from one location to another. The program is being funded by a $23,900 grant awarded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.
The first event scheduled will be a Pedestrian Training that is open to anyone that would like to attend, and it will be held in mid-August via Zoom. (Date, time and link to be announced closer to the date.) Each month, neighborhood “champions” will participate in a Zoom meeting on ways to get the word out about safety, plan for future infrastructure improvements, respond to concerns about pedestrian safety, and more.
The On the Move campaign is in addition to the Safety Board’s Cross the Walk campaign which began in 2016. This campaign focused on different pedestrian safety aspects and used billboards, presentations, outreach to student groups, bus wraps, mascots, PSAs, and more.
About the Pedestrian Fatality Review Board
The Pedestrian Safety Review Board was created by the Macon-Bibb County Commission and charged with finding ways to make all of the county’s roads, streets, and alleys safer for pedestrians. This is being done through a combination of infrastructure improvements and educational outreach. The Board establishes a forum for the Sheriff’s Office, Health Department, School District, county departments, Planning and Zoning, elected officials, AARP, and concerned citizens to develop strategies for creating a safer environment for pedestrians. To learn more about the Board, click here.
“As a community, we must make pedestrian safety a priority of our consolidated government. We have the ability to convene partners and the public in order to find the best ways to improve road safety for everyone,” says Macon-Bibb Commissioner Elaine Lucas.
It has launched an issue-specific website to help educate the public, make announcements, and seek feedback. Included on the website are: efforts and initiatives of the Board and its partners, including the adopted Vision Zero principles; announcements and media coverage of efforts; information from the first Pedestrian Safety Summit ; accomplishments; and PFRB members.
Two Pedestrian Safety Summits have been held, and both were free and open to the public, and nearly 100 people – from elected officials to law enforcement to community members to department heads to partner organizations – attended them. To see pictures from the Summit, click here.
During the Summits, people learned about the creation and goals of the Board, heard about current issues with pedestrian safety based on real data, got a roads assessment by the Georgia Department of Transportation, and learned about some of the solutions being discussed and implemented.