Miami-Dade Pedestrian Safety Project: Phase II

CHAPTER 5 OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

All of the traffic control devices deployed in this study were intuitive or passive in nature and therefore required little outreach and awareness training. Countdown pedestrian signals, offset stop lines, push buttons that confirm the button press, automatic pedestrian detectors (passive in nature), a leading pedestrian phase, "Turning vehicles yield to pedestrians" signs, in roadway signs, elimination of permissive left turns, dynamic NTOR signs, the rectangular LED stutter flash, dynamic lighting (passive in nature), pedestrian zone warning signs, shorter minimum green waiting times, and advance yield markings are familiar to motorists and pedestrians. Therefore outreach and awareness focused on continued enforcement along with a continuation of the general educational countermeasures deployed as part of the NHSTA Miami Dade Contract that begun prior to the FHWA Cooperative Agreement. On of the team members on the Cooperative Agreement (David Henderson of the Miami-Dade MPO) coordinated these efforts. These ongoing outreach and awareness measures are summarized below:

1. Pedestrian safety message posters mounted in bus and Metrorail trains. These included six different messages aimed at increasing pedestrian safety practices and were written in English, and Spanish.
2. WalkSafe Program and Ryder Trauma Center Classroom Education—program aimed at reducing the incidence of children struck by vehicles by educating elementary school-aged children, teachers, parents and their communities about traffic safety. The program used an educational training intervention, appropriate engineering countermeasures, and an enforcement component to help achieve its goal. An evaluation of the program can be found in Hotz and colleagues (2004).
3. Walk to School Day Sponsored by SAFE KIDS Walk This Way—Thousands of students from 8 schools participated in Walk to School Day. The National SAFE KIDS Campaign provided banners, signs, pedestrian safety pamphlets, and safe walking surveys.
4. Pedestrian Education by the Community Affairs Bureau of the Miami-Dade Police Department—The Pedestrian Safety Section of the Miami-Dade Police Department's Community Affairs Bureau made numerous traffic safety presentations in schools, distributed several safety booklets and materials, and helped establish the WalkSafe Miami program.
5. Haitian Creole Elementary School and Older Pedestrian Safety Education Programs—the elementary school program consisted of four 45-minute workshops conducted at three elementary schools, reaching 389 children. Both programs were supported by radio advertisements, Haitian web sites, a brochure in Haitian Creole, and Haitian Creole trading cards.
6. Brochure: Safety Tips for Pedestrians in Haitian Creole—pamphlet that provides pedestrian safety advice to adults.
7. Heroes of Haitian Independence Trading Cards—four cards that each depict a hero of Haitian independence on one side and provide pedestrian safety tips on the other.
8. Walk Safely Brochures in English and Spanish were delivered to the Miami-Dade school board, hospitals, public libraries, and police departments.
9. Workshops provided by the Miami-Dade MPO pedestrian-bicycle coordinator to older pedestrian groups on pedestrian safety.
10. More than 400 posters on nighttime conspicuity were delivered to organizations to display in public buildings.
11. Public Service Announcements (PSAs)—PSAs about pedestrian safety were distributed and broadcasted on city and county access channels in Spanish and English and on selected Spanish speaking radio stations.
12. Brochure: Pedestrian, Walk Safely—brochure providing families with the pedestrian safety advice in both English and Spanish. Brochures were delivered to organizations such as the Miami-Dade School Board, hospital, public library, police departments, and elected officials’ offices.
13. Walking Through the Years: Pedestrian Safety for the Older Adult—booklet prepared for older (65+) adults and implementers of programs for older adults. Brochures were delivered to organizations such as the Miami-Dade School Board, hospital and medical departments, retirement homes, public library, police departments, elder affairs, and elected officials’ offices.
14. Caminando a Traves de los Anos: Seguridad para Peatones de Tercera Edad (65+)—booklet in Spanish prepared for implementers of pedestrian programs for the older (65+) adult. Brochures were delivered to organizations such as the Miami-Dade School Board, police departments and elected officials' offices.
15. Enforcement of Driver Yielding Behavior Study, Two Police Pedestrian Safety Training Programs, and Enforcement—Van Houten and Malenfant (2003) conducted a study of driver yielding behavior at four crosswalks in each of two—an east and west high crash corridors in the City of Miami Beach. In one year, police stopped 2,006 motorists for failing to yield to pedestrians, with 1,218 of these stopped during the first two weeks of the program. Three hundred thirty nine citations were issued, of which 188 were given during the first two weeks of the program. For enforcement results, review Van Houten and Malenfant (2003). Additionally, police officers in Miami Beach and Miami Springs received training on pedestrian safety and enforcement activities that have been used to address a variety of violations and behaviors that often lead to collisions between pedestrians and motor vehicles.
16. Walking Through the Years: Pedestrian Safety for Your Child brochures (in English and Spanish) were distributed to the Miami-Dade School Board, hospital and medical departments, public libraries, and police departments. These brochures provided safety guidelines to parents and caregivers to help protect children from pedestrian crashes.