City officials developed a multimedia campaign with public service announcements and created English, Spanish and Armenian signs to remind residents to “wait, watch and walk.” The campaign featured the cartoon character Walkin’ Willie and his motto, along with some of his distracted friends like Molly Makeup and Cellphone Sam.
With the safety record back on the fringe, the Police Department’s Traffic Bureau has been brainstorming ways to educate the public, Lt. Gary Montecuollo said.
With state funding funneling in, the bureau is gearing up to conduct more information checkpoints, he said.
An idea thrown around among the bureau was having local high school and college students compete for a scholarship by creating public service announcements about pedestrian safety, Montecuollo said.
Another was printing a safety message such as “We may have saved your life today” on pens, which the officers would hand out to drivers during traffic stops and checkpoints, he said.
Police are considering using existing information systems to disseminate safety tips and a tip of the month, Montecuollo said. The bureau is also entertaining the option of creating a safety slogan to brand in a variety of languages.
Enforcement efforts would include pedestrian stings and measures aimed at citing unlicensed drivers.
“It’s not to be punitive,” Montecuollo said. “It’s to be corrective.”
