The Okaloosa County Health Department has teamed up with community partners in a campaign to help bring awareness to pedestrian safety.
The campaign includes an elementary school Walk, Bike and Roll-To-School event to be held Oct. 4, a school poster contest where Okaloosa County students can share their ideas for how to walk safely in their community, and three public safety videos designed to drive home the importance of pedestrian safety to walkers and motorists alike.
The initiatives were announced in a press conference Monday attended by community leaders from Okaloosa County, Crestview, Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Mary Esther and Niceville. Participants watched one of the videos and heard from people who had lost a family member in a pedestrian-vehicle accident, including Okaloosa County Commissioner Carolyn Ketchel.
“According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s statistics for 2021, there were 7,388 deaths and 60,000 injuries of pedestrians nationwide due to traffic crashes occurring on public roads,” said Ketchel as she read a proclamation by the county commission declaring “October 2023 as National Pedestrian Safety Month.”
We are proud to have been a part of this project and will be sharing the safety videos on our website and Facebook page in the weeks to come.