Florida streets and roadways are notoriously dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Fortunately, the state of Florida and other local municipalities are making a strong effort to make our Florida roadways safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Around Tampa Bay we see new crosswalks, crosswalk lighting, bike lanes, bike paths, and traffic control devices. These infrastructure improvements are a welcome and needed change to our roadways.
In addition to infrastructure updates, the Florida Department of Transportation implemented an educational campaign, “Alert Today Alive Tomorrow.” The educational campaign is coined as “best practices for pedestrian and bicycle safety.” The objective behind the campaign is “to establish an effective partnership of stakeholders charged with implementing countermeasures to improve an identified traffic safety problem.”
The Florida Department of Transportation has a public service campaign in the form of commercials, educational materials, social media postings, and grassroots efforts. This is an effort to educate the public “to increase the baseline knowledge of safety-related pedestrian laws…”
In addition to the above outreach campaign, “Alert Today Alive Tomorrow” is working with law enforcement to educate the officers and the public on pedestrian and bicycle laws. Further, the programing is helping law enforcement officers expand their understanding “…pedestrian and bicycle crash types, contributing behaviors, and relevant statutes.”
Only time will tell if the efforts being made will help make Florida roadways safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Please follow the link to Florida Department of Transportation’s Alert Today Alive Tomorrow website. The provides examples on the best practices for pedestrian and bicycle safety.