STAY SAFE, WALK SOBER

Intoxicated pedestrians run a much higher risk of crashes with motor vehicles than do sober walkers, according to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report. Alcohol is a factor in at least one-third of all pedestrian deaths. Tackling the issue with the usual traffic-safety tools of education, enforcement, and engineering has not been easy, but a new federally funded study just completed in Baltimore, Maryland, may provide some new strategies that will help protect intoxicated pedestrians. NHTSA's Walk Safe Baltimore took a multifaceted approach, under the leadership of a task force that included representatives from the police, fire department emergency services, schools, traffic safety, and other groups. The project emphasized three main areas. The first tried to make drivers more aware of the potential for disaster. Second, Baltimore police attended a training course to raise awareness of the problem and to offer options to get impaired pedestrians out of harm's way, such as giving them rides home. Third, the project tried to connect with the problem drinker. The federal government's next step will be to include the Baltimore strategies as part of a larger study of pedestrian-safety measures in one or more metropolitan areas. A sidebar highlights a program to improve pedestrian safety along U.S. 666 in Gallup, New Mexico.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00410721
• Corporate Authors:

  National Safety Council

  1121 Spring Lake Drive
  Itasca, IL  United States  60143
• Authors:
  • Graham, S
• Publication Date: 1998-7

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 16-17
• Serial:
  • Traffic Safety (Chicago)
  • Volume: 98
  • Issue Number: 4
  • Publisher: National Safety Council
  • ISSN: 0041-0721

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Evaluation; Fatalities; Intoxication; Pedestrian safety; Pedestrian vehicle crashes; Pedestrians; Safety programs
• Identifier Terms: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Geographic Terms: Baltimore (Maryland); Gallup (New Mexico)
• Old TRIS Terms: Pedestrian intoxication; Pedestrian protection; Program effectiveness
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00751675
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Aug 7 1998 12:00AM