TxDOT uses ‘walking billboards’ to promote pedestrian safety

TYLER, Texas (KETK)– The Texas Department of Transportation set up a pedestrian safety campaign with ‘walking billboards’ on Monday near the UT Tyler campus.

With October being National Pedestrian Safety Month, TxDOT is taking to streets throughout Texas encouraging drivers and pedestrians to use precautions while sharing the road.

TxDOT Tyler District representatives set up their operation at a crosswalk with a yielding traffic light on Old Omen Street near UT Tyler’s campus. The area sees a constant flow of foot traffic including people riding their bikes or scooters.

While the crosswalk on Old Omen has not recorded many incidents, the same cannot be said for the rest of TxDOT’s Tyler District.

According to TxDOT Tyler District Public Information Officer Jeff Williford, 18 pedestrian fatalities occurred in the Tyler District last year across eight counties in East Texas.

“October is the deadliest month for pedestrians statewide,” Williford said. “One reason is because of the time change, it gets darker earlier and most of the fatalities for pedestrians happen after sundown.”

There is no simple cause or explanation for these fatalities, but TxDOT is doing what they can to prevent future incidents. The department has began using “walking billboards” to help inform pedestrians and drivers about how to stay safe while using the road.

The walking billboards are people that wear sandwich boards containing safety messages encouraging drivers to stop when appropriate or to stay of their phones. Those holding the billboards also walked with students through the crosswalk while educating people on the importance of staying safe.

“The crosswalk here has a very big light that hopefully motorists can see, but as we have been sitting here people kind of just go on through and may not be looking at the light and may not be paying attention, so we are trying to bring awareness to that,” Williford said.

Now that the sun is going down sooner and holidays such as Halloween are approaching, traffic safety specialist for TxDOT Tyler District Heather Singleton has some tips for pedestrians who walk around during the night time.

“When you’re walking around outside, you want to always use the sidewalk if there is one,” Singleton said. “Don’t walk in the street unless it is absolutely necessary. We want to make sure that if we’re walking in the dark whether it’s pre-dawn or post-dusk, we want to make sure we aren’t wearing dark clothing. If you’re outside you want to have something reflective on you or with you.”

To learn more about National Pedestrian Safety Month, visit TxDOT’s website.

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