The Challenge
With the growing concern of roadway congestion, climate change and limited transportation options throughout the Commonwealth, Massachusetts cities and towns have committed to constructing safer access to biking and pedestrian routes. As a result, there has been an increase in bike ridership. Bicycle and pedestrian injuries and fatalities are a critical national and local safety concern. From 2005-2010, 2,000 bicyclists and pedestrians were injured in Massachusetts and 420 persons died while walking on or near Massachusetts roadways. Given The Rendon Group’s experience in developing and implementing statewide public safety campaigns, The Highway Safety Division hired our team to develop the “Be Seen. Be Safe.” pilot program.
Our Solution
The foundation of this public awareness effort was based on the latest research provided by the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration. It was determined that pedestrians and bicyclists needed to better understand how to protect themselves or a loved one when walking or riding a bike. The Rendon Group (TRG) developed the “Be Seen. Be Safe.” pilot program to emphasize safety tips and traffic regulations for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as to alert drivers. The pilot program was specifically designed to provide educational materials to the 65 Massachusetts communities that received the FY Pedestrian and Bicycle Enforcement and Equipment Grant. The materials developed for the “Be Seen. Be Safe.” program met the grant requirements and proved to be content-rich educational information for police departments.
TRG was responsible for developing and implementing the following:
- Logo and tagline development
- Message development
- Video production
- Grassroots community outreach
- Distribution and promotion of the video program
Results
TRG contacted the 65 police departments/ grant recipients to inform them of the effort and confirm their distribution of the video. Most police departments used a combination of their various multi-media networks.
- The percentage using Town or Police websites: 91% (40/44)
- The percentage using Facebook: 75% (33/44)
- The percentage using Twitter: 41% (18/44)
- The percentage using local access networks: 23% (10/44)
- The percentage using YouTube: 4.5% (2/44)
