Traffic Safety Talk December 2022 Newsletter

TRAFFICSAFETYTALK
District Two Community Traffic Safety Program News Update • December 2022

25th Annual Recipes for the Road

We are excited to present the 25th annual Recipes for
the Road! For a quarter century, FDOT District Two’s
Community Traffic Safety Program has worked to make
a positive impact and help keep people safe on our
roads during the holidays and throughout the year.

This popular community outreach effort offers traffic
safety tips and party alternatives to help stop impaired
driving and reduce traffic crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Every issue
is filled with unique nonalcoholic drinks, mocktails, appetizers, treats,
and traffic safety reminders.

25th Celebration Video A special 16-page 25th-anniversary edition is available online as a
digital flipbook and PDF download. A limited supply of keepsake
books was produced. Printed 4-page Recipes for the Road folded
cards are distributed throughout Northeast Florida.

Mocktails and More New Recipe Videos

Nonalcoholic beverages are becoming
increasingly popular and are great for
office parties, family gatherings, and
social events. In 2017, we launched our
first recipe videos for the 20th Annual
Recipes for the Road edition. We have
created 33 mocktail drink and food recipe videos for holiday celebrations throughout the year.
They offer tasty alternatives for designated drivers and include traffic safety messages to raise
awareness of the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and encourage a
safety culture focused on preventing injuries and fatalities on our roads.

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver

Throughout December, District Two Community Traffic Safety Team members will
be reaching out to local restaurants and bars to display this year’s new Celebrate
Safely, Designate a Driver poster. The campaign focuses on the safety strategies
of both education and insight into creating safer communities, by working
with local partners. This includes law enforcement, emergency personal, local
agencies, community members, restaurants, and bars.

The goal is to promote responsible alcohol service and personal use at events
or party hosting. We promote safe transportation choices that encourage
alternatives to driving while impaired. Numerous neighborhood establishments
throughout Northeast Florida participate every year.

Click to Learn More Driving Tips for Teens

According to the FLHSMV, in 2021, Florida teens

made up nearly 5% of our driving population, while

more than 11% of our motor vehicle crashes involved

a teen driver. FDOT District Two Community Traffic

Safety Program developed ten short videos with

driving tips for teens. A series of brief educational

and informative traffic safety messages were posted

on YouTube for National Teen Driver Safety Week – and all year long. The videos are on our website and our

Traffic Safety Team YouTube channel, which has proven to attract an audience between the ages of 18 and 24

and is an ideal place to help educate teens about speeding, distracted driving, and other road rules.

Observing National Seat Belt Day

National Seat Belt Day is observed annually on November 14th to help
encourage people to buckle up. While safety seat belts are easy to take
for granted, they can make a huge difference between minor injuries and
severe, life-threatening injuries or fatalities in a crash. Our National Seat
Belt Day blog post covers the history of seat belts, facts, laws, and ideas
for increasing safety belt usage and raising awareness of the importance
of buckling up. Occupant protection banners and posters continue to be
distributed to Northeast Florida businesses. Allstate agent, Katie Little is
a new community partner and is proud to display the banner in her lobby
and at local events.

Complete Streets

Complete Streets is a puzzle piece for the Target Zero goal of
reducing serious injuries and deaths on our roadways. As part
of our education and outreach, we developed a presentation
explaining why FDOT’s Complete Streets are essential for
safety and mobility. We discuss the policy, design guidance,
and strategies of Complete Streets and highlight a few
project examples in Northeast Florida.

Micromobility in Northeast Florida

Micromobility usage is on the rise nationally and in Florida.
We examined what Micromobility currently looks like in
Northeast Florida and created a presentation to discuss what
micromobility is—and isn’t. We review at how micromobility
is presently being used in Northeast Florida. We examine
some of the safety challenges associated with the increased
use of micromobility devices while keeping in mind the goal
of ZERO fatalities on our roadways.

Making Communities Our #1 Priority

During a speech at the 2022 American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Annual
Meeting in Orlando, Jared Perdue explained, “How do we as state DOTs continue to deliver infrastructure
and be successful? It is about connecting the dots between what we do to every community we serve.”
He said giving local communities a role in the infrastructure decisions state DOTs make is critical to the
adaptation, evolution, and survival of state DOTs as we advance. With growth being a major challenge in
Florida, forging tighter and deeper connections with local communities is vital. Kudos to our Northeast
Florida Community Traffic Safety Teams, who are essential to helping make this happen!

Highlights from 2022 Our Minty Nojito Mojito
mocktail Pin has reached
Six-Year Crash Data – Report released in August with 50,000 impressions!
data for all 18 counties in District Two. That’s a lot of
shared inspiration
Ground Zero for Target Zero – The Northeast Florida and awareness about
Community Traffic Safety Teams work to connect, traffic safety and
interact, plan, design, educate, and solve traffic safety impaired driving.
concerns as part of Target Zero.
Mocktail Videos

Defensive Driving Tools for Safety – Clay Traffic Upcoming CTST Meetings:
Safety Team member Jeff Hohlstein developed an
excellent presentation targeting aging road users. Putnam 1.3.23 @ 11:00 AM
Traffic Safety Education for Children –
• School Days: Free content and resources for Walk to St. Johns 1.10.23 @ 1:30 PM
School and School Bus Safety Awareness Events
• Safety Town: Rules at home, school, and around the Columbia / Hamilton / Lafayette / Suwannee
neighborhood. 1.17.23 @ 10:30 AM
Inclement Weather Safety on the Road – In
anticipation of hurricane season, we shared safe Duval 1.18.23 @ 10:00 AM
driving tips, graphics and links to safe travel and
emergency preparedness information. Clay 1.18.23 @ 2:00 PM
Guide for Virtual CTST Meetings – Includes
instructions for the Microsoft Teams platform and tips Alachua / Dixie Gilchrist / Levy
for looking and being your best as an attendee. 1.19.23 @ 10:00 AM
4 E’s and More – The 4 E’s remain fundamental in
traffic safety. However, bringing new partners to the Nassau 1.24.23 @ 10:30 AM
table can create better insight and opportunities to
reduce the number and severity of crashes. Bradford / Baker / Union 2.2.23 @ 11:00 AM
Spring Bike/Walk/Run – Get Out and Move for Safety
virtual event was great time to educate about bicycle Team meetings are virtual and subject to change.
and pedestrian safety.
Safety Belt Use in Northeast Florida – Evaluated Addressing Roadway Issues
FDOT’s 2021 Safety Belt Survey results and created
new occupant protection messages in response to low District Two Community Traffic Safety Teams
usage rates in Duval County. address and solve traffic safety concerns affecting
Move Over or Slow Down – New graphics and our local roadways. This year we have facilitated
digital tip cards were shared in January for Florida’s 242 engineering concerns.
Move Over Month.
Click to Submit a Concern

We appreciate your dedication and help making
our roads safer, ultimately reducing crashes,
injuries, and fatalities. If you see a new traffic
safety concern, please submit it through the
online Roadway Concerns form.

District Two Traffic Safety CHAMPION Dekova Batey

Dekova Batey belongs to the Alachua County CTST and has been a member since
February 2001. He started working with the City of Gainesville’s Bicycle/Pedestrian
Program and has been a true champion of traffic safety for 21 years!

When asked what his favorite thing about the Community Traffic Safety Program is,
Dekova stated, “The wonderful collaboration, staff support, bountiful resources for
the community, innovation, data, research, and impactful events/trainings.”

Dekova is a native Floridian, born and raised in Gainesville with his mom and two
sisters. He is greatly involved in his community, not only through the CTSP and his
work but through his church, volunteering, mentoring, and life coaching. He enjoys
nature, drawing, gospel music, and learning new cultures.

We congratulate Dekova on graduating from a Chamber leadership program this
year! He has accomplished so much over the last two decades and continues to
support his local community’s needs in many ways.

In considering some of the hurdles to maintaining safe roads, Dekova provided some great insight,
“Be diplomatic about how to approach; there is always the opportunity for various views...especially in
government. Be open-minded and creative about how to address and view people’s purpose, desires,
understanding, and needs for travel/transport.”

On November 12, we joined Clay CTST member Judy Cotton for the Walk Like MADD
Northeast Florida event at the Town Hall Park in Orange Park. FDOT District Two handed

out traffic safety information to participants. The event was a great success, with our
team distributing FDOT and Target Zero safety messaging throughout the day.

Please send us any of your events, community outreach or education
campaigns you’d like us to share! Email to: [email protected]

TrafficSafetyTeam.org @TrafficSafetyTeam @TrafficSafetyFL