Walk This Way with Safe Kids Greater Houston

1
Walk This Way withSafe Kids Greater Houston

• Rallying the Grassroots
• Susan Akers Hirtz, MPH, RN

2
Safe Kids Worldwide

• 300 US coalitions, 14 in other countries
• Sponsors JJ, FedEx, GM/UAW, Bell Sports
• Grassroots efforts with volunteers, pros to
  prevent childhood injuries
• Since began in 1987, deaths down 43

3
Local Statistics

• 31 of pedestrians injured in Houston were
  children, age 15 or younger - 2004
• Non-occupant occupant deaths
• In gt30 of incidents, pedestrian at fault

4
Build the Pedestrian Safety Team

• HPD, HFD, AAA, healthcare, METRO
• Curriculum
• Seed money for Pedestrian Safety Village

5
Take close look at incidents 1997-2002 EMS
injury data

• East End high-risk
• 27 pedestrian, 12 bike
• Of 17 children lt8yrs
• 59 on major streets
• 41 on Fri/Sat eves
• Of 22 8-14-yr olds hit
• ½ on bikes
• ½ on major streets
• gt1/3 after dark
• 1/3 on Fri/Sat eves
• In 3, all on side streets, speed noted 35-40mph

6
Observe the Hot Spots
7
Partner with schoolsSafety events in 7
schools

• Work through contact at school district office
• Link curriculum with required objectives
• Minimize childrens time out of classroom
• Schedule at schools convenience
• Not part of health fair

8
Address problems at schools

• Speeding in school zones
• Cross mid-block, not at crosswalks
• Overgrown lots, broken sidewalks
• Inadequate signage

9
Involve traffic planners and engineers

• MPO identified hot spots using DPS data
• Accelerated traffic studies for East End
• Geocoded data
• Separated pedestrian from bike incidents
• Liaison with DOT City Public Works

10
Pedestrian Safety Taskforce
Community
Traffic planners DOT/MPO/PWE
Schools
SAFE KIDS Health/PD/Bus/Rail
11
Ways to identify safety projects

• Incident-motivated
• Crash data analysis
• Citizen input through public involvement process
• Pedestrian Safety Audits

12
Pedestrian Safety Audit

• Local examples of good/bad design
• Elements of walkability
• Community walkabout
• Prioritize problems
• Develop action plan
• Where do we go from here? Funding?

13
Safe Routes to School
proposal to TXDOT

• Up to 500,000 for street improvements
• Required 20 match by City Council
• School groups send proposals to City
• City selects submits one proposal

14
Traffic Engineering Studies

• By Texas Transportation Institute, 2004
• Raised pavement markers, striping
• Pedestrian crossing signals
• More education enforcement

15
Safe Kids Walk This Way

• Identify hazards, possible improvements
• Teach traffic safety in classrooms, parents
• Guided practice
• Media events
• Incident response