Huntsville City Schools ALABAMA

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION

In reviewing traffic safety data for the city, the Huntsville City Director of Highway Safety in Huntsville, Alabama, noticed an increase in injuries and fatalities to children and teenagers in pedestrian, bicycle and traffic related crashes. Each year, three to four children were injured while walking or riding their bikes to or from school. In some instances, a child was killed as a result of these crashes. There were also between one and three fatalities a year due to teenage drinking and driving.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of the Huntsville City Schools program is to save lives and reduce the incidence of injuries to youth in Huntsville. Specific objectives include:

Increasing awareness among Huntsville's student population on the dangers of drinking and driving, not using safety belts, rules of the road, and pedestrian and bicycle safety

Reducing traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities among school children, teachers, parents and others through participation in community traffic safety programs and awareness activities

STRATEGIES AND ACTIVITIES

To address concerns for the safety of Huntsville students, the Huntsville local school system, in cooperation with the Office of Highway Safety, hired an Alcohol/Highway Safety Instructor. Her responsibility is to educate students and improve awareness of Highway Safety Issues in the Huntsville City Public Schools. The Huntsville Alcohol/Highway Safety Instructor presents Highway Safety programs to all classes including special education. During the year, the instructor also works with all eighth grade students for two days on alcohol and highway safety issues. She arranges bike rodeos as well as helmet giveaways for needy families and reduced-price helmets for students.

Huntsville City Schools (cont'd)

To create greater community awareness of traffic safety issues, Kindergarten classes make giant cookies with safety belt messages and deliver them to businesses where their parents were employed.

The instructor also works with Peer Helping Groups (school clubs and civic organizations), Cross Guards, the local Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP), Safe Kids, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Boys and Girls Clubs and Think First to promote safety to students and the community throughout the school year.

RESULTS

Prior to the Alcohol/Highway Instructor, several students were injured and killed in alcohol-related crashes. Within the last six years, no students have been injured or killed in alcohol-related crashes. Bicycle helmet use has increased from 0 percent to 45 percent, and the number of bicycle riding fatalities has decreased to zero. The safety belt usage rate among students and parents has increased from 45 percent to 87 percent during the last several years.