The northwestern region of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) was awarded a communication honor for a program to educate students and their families about pedestrian safety tips and guidelines.
The Pedestrian Safety Calendar was recognized by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) through its nationwide Transportation Communication (TransComm) committee as the national skill award honoree in the Best of the Rest category.
The program was done in collaboration with Harding Elementary School in the City of Erie. PennDOT District 1 Safety Press Officer Saxon Daugherty and Mike Tautin of the Highway Safety Network presented pedestrian safety information to second and third graders at the school then invited the students to draw a picture showing at least one of the tips or rules given during the program.
More than 200 drawings were collected and 18 were selected for inclusion in the calendar, which was printed and provided to all the students and teachers who participated in the program.
Throughout the year, the drawings have been shared on PennDOT’s regional accounts on X and Facebook. PennDOT staff members Jill Harry, District 1 Press Officer, and Stephanie Smilak, Deputy Digital Director, also assisted with development and implementation of the program.
The collaboration is part of PennDOT’s ongoing initiative to reduce pedestrian-related crashes through educational outreach in the northwestern region.
“Over the past 12 months, pedestrian safety has been an area of focus for our external safety efforts because it is more than a transportation issue. It is a community issue,” said Brian McNulty, PennDOT District 1 Executive. “Our team did a great job of looking for opportunities for collaboration within the communities we serve and using those connections to amplify the message to have a greater impact.”
A printable version of the calendar is available online at www.pa.gov/DOTdistrict1.
A second year of the program is underway in partnership with the Titusville Area School District and the Main Street Elementary School.
PennDOT recommends pedestrians always wear bright, reflective clothing when walking to help drivers see them, to always cross at crosswalks or signalized intersections, and to walk on the correct side of the road against traffic while eliminating all distractions, such as using a cell phone or wearing earbuds.
The TransComm Skills Contest is conducted annually to recognize the outstanding work of its public relations practitioners and facilitate an exchange of ideas. The contest is considered the premier competition in the transportation industry, and the awards have become a standard of public relations excellence among state departments of transportation. Winners demonstrate the very best examples of innovation, planning, production, execution, and evaluation of results and budget.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Crawford, Erie, Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties at www.pa.gov/DOTdistrict1.
Information about infrastructure in District 1, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D1Results. Find PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.
Find PennDOT news for the northwestern region on X or Facebook.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Jill Harry, 814-678-5035 or jharry@pa.gov