NEWS

‘Yield to Heels Day’ to promote pedestrian safety on UNC campus

CHAPEL HILL -- A pedestrian safety awareness campaign that aims to make the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus a safer place to walk and bicycle kicks off this month.

Developed by the UNC Highway Safety Research Center and the UNC Department of Public Safety, the "Yield to Heels" campaign focuses on three messages for drivers and pedestrians: Be Aware. Be Safe. Be Considerate.

To kick off the campaign, volunteers wearing "Yield to Heels" T-shirts will be stationed at four crosswalks from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 24. The four crosswalk locations are South Road by the Bell Tower, Manning Drive by the School of Dentistry, Pittsboro Street across from the State Employees’ Credit Union and Ridge Road by the George Watts Hill Alumni Center. Volunteers will be distributing information fliers about the campaign along with discounts from local merchants.

The campaign is planned to run through at least the fall and also will include posters, advertising and public service announcements.

"As the university has grown and the campus has experienced more construction and congestion, pedestrian safety has become an increasing concern," said Chief Derek Poarch, director of the Department of Public Safety. "From our standpoint, education and awareness must be used in conjunction with enforcement and engineering to improve the situation for all pedestrians on campus. We ask members of our community, both on-campus and off-campus, to set an example by reading our safety messages and following them whether on foot, on a bicycle or in a car."

Thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program, a three-member traffic and pedestrian safety unit was established within the Department of Public Safety in July 2001. From July 2001 to January 2002, the unit issued more than 90 citations to motorists for failure to yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks, 66 speeding citations (mainly in areas with a high volume of pedestrians) and 70 citations for other violations. The unit also has conducted 79 pedestrian safety programs in residence halls, fraternities and sororities since July 2001.

Despite these efforts, there is still confusion among citizens as to what the laws are regarding pedestrian safety, said Doug Robertson, director of the Highway Safety Research Center. The "Yield to Heels" campaign will try to clear up the myths and give people the facts.

"Many pedestrians believe they always have the right of way, but that isn’t true," said Robertson. "If a pedestrian crosses the street at a place other than a designated crosswalk or intersection, the vehicle actually has the right of way, and it is the pedestrian’s responsibility to yield to the vehicle. So when we say ‘Yield to Heels’ we aren’t just telling drivers to yield to pedestrians; we are also trying to let pedestrians know when they need to yield to drivers."

The Department of Public Safety offers the following tips:

· Pedestrians should be aware. Look across all lanes you must cross. Even though one vehicle has stopped, another may pass in another lane. Be safe. Do not assume drivers can stop. Gauge the flow of traffic before you step out onto the road and wait if necessary. Be considerate. Establish eye contact with drivers before crossing.

· Drivers should be aware when entering a crosswalk area. Be prepared to stop. Be safe. Do not overtake and pass other vehicles stopped for pedestrians on your side of the roadway. Be considerate. Establish eye contact with pedestrians.

"It is important that both pedestrians and drivers use good judgment," Poarch said. "No matter who has the right of way, we all need to be aware, safe and considerate. Pedestrian safety is everyone’s responsibility."

In conjunction with the pedestrian safety campaign, UNC officers will be using traffic radar equipment to monitor Manning Drive, South Road and Pittsboro Street, as well as other streets throughout campus, for speeding motorists.

On Nov. 4, 1999, Dr. Fusayoshi Matsukawa, a UNC postdoctoral dentistry fellow, was struck by a car as he crossed Manning Drive at a marked crosswalk. He later died from injuries caused by the accident.

Following this tragedy, a 14-member pedestrian safety committee was formed to advise the university regarding pedestrian safety issues. The committee is made up of North Carolina Department of Transportation officials, Town of Chapel Hill representatives, officers with the Department of Public Safety, researchers at the Highway Safety Research Center and university students, faculty, staff and administrators. This now-permanent university committee reports annually to the chancellor with recommendations for campus pedestrian safety improvements.

Since its formation, the committee’s work has resulted in several engineering improvements, including fluorescent green pedestrian crossing and warning signs at all campus crosswalks, and sidewalk additions at the entrance to UNC Hospitals, to name a few initiatives.

For more information on traffic and pedestrian safety, as well as traffic updates, go to the public safety website at http://main.psafety.unc.edu/publicsafety/.

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Highway Safety Research Center contact: Shannon Walters at (919) 962-7803

News Services contact: Deb Saine at (919) 962-8415