DOT Campaign to Promote Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem Bicycle and Pedestrian Program is sponsoring a four-week education and enforcement campaign to promote pedestrian and bicycle safety. The campaign’s goal is safer streets and sidewalks for all users.
Begun on March 25, the campaign will focus for two weeks on reminding motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians about their legal responsibilities when interacting with each other on the street.
The education theme is “watch out for each other.” The campaign will use radio advertisements and traffic report sponsorships, digital advertising, social media and public service announcements on WSTV Digital Media and the city’s YouTube channel.
The first week of the education campaign targets bike riders and motorists, to be followed by a week targeting pedestrians and motorists.
This will be followed by a two-week enforcement campaign. During the first week of the enforcement campaign, officers will issue warnings to motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians and remind them of state laws regarding each mode, except where flagrant violations endanger people, in which case officers will issue citations.
During the second week of the enforcement campaign, officers will issue citations to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians who are not following the law.
Pedestrian fatalities were up 10 percent nationally in 2015, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. This increase is attributed in part to motorists and pedestrians watching their cell phones instead of where they’re going. In Winston-Salem, there were 83 accidents involving pedestrians in 2013 and 89 in 2014, said Matthew Burczyk, the city’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.
“We are very concerned about the safety of all roadway users, but pedestrians and bicyclists are the most susceptible to injury or death,” Burczyk said. “It is encouraging that other communities who have tried this two-pronged campaign have seen a decrease in unsafe behaviors.”
