Pedestrian safety slogan exhorts but does not educate
[B' Spokes: Just to note we generally share the same cambaign with DC, so this is applicable here as well. I also wounder when they will alow public comment on these cambaigns before they hit the streets? Oh people who have contributed to Maryland having the 4th highest pedestrain fatality rate know what they are talking about... right. :/ Seriosly, lets start with a public comment period, OK?]
by Ben Ross. Greater Greater Washington
No one questions the need for public education about pedestrian safety, but Washington-area agencies are missing a real opportunity to educate the public in this year's annual "Street Smart" safety campaign.
Photo from Street Smart.
Both drivers and pedestrians are ignorant of some important rules of sharing the road and only dimly aware of others. With the slogan "Obey pedestrian & traffic safety laws" now visible all over the city, Washington-area transportation agencies have substituted empty exhortation for education. Their publicity campaigns should teach pedestrians and drivers how to share the road.
Few drivers understand when they must yield to pedestrians and when pedestrians must yield to them; few pedestrians know when they can and cannot cross a street in the middle of a block.
...Highway agencies recognize that education about pedestrian safety must accompany engineering and enforcement. But our region, especially outside the District and Arlington, has a spotty record in engineering and enforcement. That makes educating the public about pedestrian safety all that more important.
[Emphisis mine sinse this goes double for the Balto Metro area.]
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/14348/pedestrian-safety-slogan-exhorts-but-does-not-educate/
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