Program Goals

Preventing traffic-related injuries and fatalities requires addressing multiple issues. Each year, Safe Communities sets goals for the program in a variety of different areas. New goal areas this year include motorcycle safety and older drivers. The goals for 2008 include:

Safety Belts

Safety Belts, when worn correctly, are your best protection against injury and death in traffic crashes. Safety belts should be worn in all positions of the vehicle. Safety belts help protect against ejection from the vehicle during a crash. Most crashes occur close to home. So, even if you’re just going a short distance, buckle up every trip, every time!

The most recent safety belt use rate for Franklin County is 69%. The most recent usage rate for the State of Ohio is 81.6%. The Franklin County rate is determined by two observational safety belt surveys that are done in June and September at 19 randomly selected sites throughout the county.

This year’s goal is to raise the safety belt rate to 70% by June 2008 and 75% by September 2008.

What is being done to increase safety belt use? Each year, Safe Communities participates in the two-week What’s Holding You Back/Click-it-or-Ticket campaign. This year the campaign is May 19th to June 1st. Last year, over 40,000 safety belt promotional/educational items were distributed throughout Franklin County. The Safe Communities program works year-round with businesses, schools and other community agencies to increase safety belt use among, students, patrons, employees and the general population. Check out our current projects to find out about specific projects.

Impaired Driving

In 2007, 34% of all fatal crashes in Franklin County involved alcohol. The Safe Communities program partners with law enforcement agencies, including the Franklin County DUI Task Force, and other agencies such as MADD, to help eliminate drunk driving. Our goal this year is to see a 5% reduction in alcohol-related crashes.

The risks of driving impaired include:

  • Serious injury or death
  • Serious injury or death of your passengers or other drivers
  • DUI/OVI arrest, which leads to costly legal ramifications
  • Losing your license
  • Damaging your reputation

What is being done to reduce impaired driving? In addition to the efforts of law enforcement agencies, the Safe Communities program works to educate the community on the dangers of drinking and driving. Throughout the year, we promote the Grab-a-Cab program. We work with area bars and restaurants to promote responsible serving of patrons. In addition, we work with the managers and bartenders to promote the use of cabs. See our current projects page for more details on this exciting program.

The Safe Communities program has a strong history of educating high school students about the dangers of alcohol and the risks of drinking and driving. In 2007, we won a Model Practice Award from the National Association of County and City Health Officials for our Teen Traffic Safety Mini-Grant program. See our current projects page to get more details on how with work with teens.

Teen Drivers

In Franklin County, teens represent 5.6% of the population, but 9.1% of the drivers involved in traffic crashes. From 2003-2006, over 26,000 teens drivers were involved in traffic crashes and were at-fault over 60% of the time. Teens tend to involved in a high number of traffic crashes because they lack the skills to make good decisions, they are inexperienced, and they are often easily distracted by passengers, the radio and cell phones. Teens also tend to take more risks than adults because they do not think about the long term consequences of their actions.

Because teens are a high crash risk population, the Safe Communities program focuses a lot of its effort on educating teen drivers and teens who will drive in the near future. Safe Communities uses a peer to peer teaching model as the driving force behind its programs. The goal of education with teens is to empower students to make good decisions and to encourage safe and smart decision making among other teens. As mentioned above, our teen program is award-winning.

Please visit the current projects page to read about the specific programs we have in place for reducing the number of teen-related crashes.

Motorcycles

Ohio is among the top five states with the highest number of motorcycle riders in the nation, and motorcycle sales are growing at about 16% annually. As of 2004 there were 14,917 registered motorcycles and 43,558 issued motorcycle licenses in Franklin County.  Motorcyclists are 37 times more likely to die in a crash and 8 times more likely to be injured than motor vehicle drivers.  With more and more people using motorcycles to get around town, the need for traffic safety efforts is becoming more and more urgent, especially when considering that there were 371 crashes involving motorcycles in Franklin County during 2007, 9 of which were fatal.

What is being done to increase motorcycle safety awareness? Safe Communities has teamed up with several organizations, dealerships, and members of the motorcycle community to increase motorcycle safety awareness in Franklin County.  Check out or current projects page to learn more about this year’s motorcycle safety projects and programs.

Pedestrians

In 2006, there were 495 traffic crashes that involved a pedestrian. Of those crashes, 58% involved injuries or a fatality and another 24% had possible injuries. Preventing injury and death to pedestrians requires changing the behavior of both the pedestrian and the driver.

What type of behavior do we encourage in pedestrians?

  • Cross at the crosswalk. If the intersection is signalized, wait for the “walk” signal.
  • When possible, walk on the sidewalk.
  • Be aware of your surroundings. Pay attention to vehicles. Cell phones and headphones can be distracting.
  • Know your walking route and plan for safest way to reach your destination.

What type of behavior do we encourage in drivers?

  • Slow down in school zones. Follow the 20 MPH speed limit when you see the flashing lights.
  • Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, especially when turning. Do not enter the crosswalk until the pedestrian has finished crossing and is safely on the sidewalk.
  • Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25® in residential neighborhoods with 25 MPH posted speed limits.
  • Be especially careful in areas such as downtown where you know that there is heavy pedestrian activity.

What is being done to increase safety for pedestrians? The Columbus Area Pedestrian Safety committee (CAPS) is a subcommittee of the Safe Communities program. CAPS advocates for safer pedestrian environments, educates the community about proper pedestrian behavior and participates in projects that improve the built environment and support and encourage safe pedestrian activity. The CAPS committee is comprised of several engineers, planners and educators that lead or consult on projects that promote physical activity by making walking a part of every day life. The CAPS committee knows that people are less likely to walk in an environment where they feel threatened. The majority of projects encourage pedestrian activity through changing the built environment. Examples include improving crosswalks, traffic calming, installing sidewalks and increasing awareness of pedestrian crossings.