If you live in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill or Carrboro, you may have noticed “Watch For Me NC” advertisements at gas stations while you’re filling up your car or on buses transporting folks around the city.
The campaign, which is ultimately going to be a statewide effort, but is being piloted in the cities listed above, works to raise awareness of pedestrians to those who are driving and offering education to pedestrians to make smart decisions as they walk tot heir destination.
A catalyst for this program can be found in the numbers. The Raleigh-Cary Metro area ranked #13 in a ranking of the worst metro areas for pedestrians. For every 100,000 people in the Raleigh-Cary Metro area, 1.7 will be killed as the result of a accident involving a vehicle and pedestrian.
Click here to see a map of locations of accidents involving a fatality in the Triangle.
As a personal injury law firm based in the Triangle, we have answered many calls from folks who have been hit by a car while walking, running, jogging, riding a bike or getting off the bus. We are behind this safety initiative 100%.
Not only do we handle cases of this nature, our firm is located right beside a middle school in Raleigh. Each day we see many children walking home. Six Forks is a busy street, so many who work here have seen some close calls. We think the more information and education that can be put out there as Raleigh grows and folks begin to walk more and more, the better.
For more information on this campaign and what you can do to help, check out their website at WatchForMeNC.org. The WatchForMeNC.org website features a great Safety Resource page that shares FAQ’s and safety tips for those who walk to their destinations. If your child does any kind of walking to school or after school when they come home, take a few minutes to go over some of these safety tips.
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