Kudos to the The Iowa
Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety
Bureau (GTSB) for promoting such a campaign.
Any public safety announcements related to non-motorized vehicles is a win-win.
Wouldn't it be great to have a "Bicycle Safety Awareness" campaign like this for cyclists? Especially in May?.. especially since May is Bike Month?
The Pedestrian Campaign
This morning, Friday, May 1, 2015, the Iowa
Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety
Bureau (GTSB), in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NTSA) and the City of Sioux City, launched the first of
its kind in Iowa, pedestrian fatality awareness campaign.
Pedestrians are one of the most at-risk groups of roadway users. Pedestrians represent 14-percent of all traffic fatalities.
According to NHTSA, 3 in 4 (73%) of pedestrians were killed in urban
areas; 2 in 3 (70%) were at non-intersections; 1 in 2 (48%) were killed
on the weekends; 1 in 3 (32%) were killed between 8PM – midnight; and 1
in 3 (37%) pedestrians killed were drunk.
The goal of this campaign is to raise
awareness about and reduce the number of pedestrian injuries and
fatalities in our state. The Iowa GTSB and Sioux City officials have
developed a pilot approach of “Three E’s” including engineering,
education and enforcement.
The Sioux City Police Department will have
extra enforcement monitoring foot traffic and providing enforcement
during high risk hours. Findings will be turned over to the
engineering department to look at traffic patterns and make
recommendations for safer flow and determine if additional signage is
needed.
The Sioux City Police Department, along with
the Iowa GTSB, will also distribute educational posters and signs to
establishments in the area to raise awareness and encourage safe
behavior.
“The Sioux City Police Department sees this
as a significant opportunity to impact pedestrian safety.Evaluating
our roadways and educating its users should effect safety for all and
reduce the numbers of injuries and fatalities we see. Projects such as
this with federal, state and local ownership have proven successful in
the past and we look forward to this one,” Sioux City Police Chief
Douglas Young commented.
Iowa GTSB Bureau Chief Pat Hoye said, “I applaud Sioux City’s
proactive approach to pedestrian safety and encourage other cities to
follow their example.”
Make it "cycling" related
Since it is Bike Month, here is a tip. Please re-read the press release above and time you see the the word "pedestrian', replace it with "cyclist".
Fact
We scoured the DPS press releases for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010. There were ZERO press releases released on cycling.
If these state organizations have not recognized 'safe' cycling in the last 5 1/2 years, then why do we think a safe passing law, or stricter penalties will get passed?
There
are even press releases telling football fans to be safe at the Iowa
vs. Iowa-State games, but unfortunately nothing cycling-related...
2016 ?
We vow to contact DPS, GTSB, the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, and Iowa's State Bike & Ped coordinator to get a state-wide "Bicycle Safety Awareness" campaign created and released
for cycling for next year. Who knows... We may get a press release
posted yet this month.
We challenge YOU to contact these organizations too.
What do you think?
WE know this is a sensitive topic, and we hope you can sense a little sarcasm in this post, but given Iowa is such a bicycle-friendly state, a "Bicycle Safety Awareness" campaign should be one of the TOP campaigns of all the public safety announcements... just like "buzzed driving is drunk driving" and the "click it or ticket" campaigns.
What do you think?