BTA Launches Eye to Eye Safety Campaign
Press Release
EYE TO EYE SAFETY CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES AUGUST 13THAugust 12, 2008 - A coalition of partners in Portland, Eugene, and Springfield will kick off the new Eye to Eye safety campaign with press conferences and events in Eugene and Portland the morning of August 13, 2008.
Eye to Eye is a multi-city campaign aimed at all road users to foster a culture of awareness and respect on our shared paths and roadways and to make the streets of our communities safer for everyone. Along with conveying greater awareness and respect, the Eye to Eye message will serve as a banner over information about specific actions road users can take to be safer: making eye contact and communicating with other road users, looking for bikes, stopping for pedestrians, using lights at night, following traffic laws, etc.
Seeing Eye to Eye Means
- Looking for, seeing, making eye contact with, and communicating with other road users;
- Seeing each pedestrian, cyclist, and driver as the individuals they are: our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and fellow community members;
- Having empathy for other road users, trying to understand the experience of being in someone else’s shoes/bike saddle/driver’s seat.
- Recognizing what we as individual road users can do to keep our streets and paths safe for everyone.
The Eye to Eye Campaign will consist of community outreach events, print and transit ads, Public Service Announcements (PSA), and easy access to traffic safety information on the web. August and September outreach events include Eye to Eye Kidical Mass Family Bike Rides, a Ladd Circle crosswalk awareness action, bike light giveaway and education with the Portland Police Bureau, a commercial truck and bicycle awareness event with the Portland Water Bureau, and safe urban biking workshops. The first Eye to Eye PSA will be released in October and will focus on raising the awareness of teen drivers of the presence of vulnerable roadway users.
