October is here, school has been back in session for a while and summer vacations are in the rearview mirror. We’re acclimating to the fall weather and settling into our regular work routines. There’s a comfort to the season, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security—it’s also a time when complacency to surrounding risks can be quite high.
Safety awareness initiatives, like days or weeks of observance, help alleviate complacency by reminding us of hazards that we may have started to ignore due to their familiarity. As previously outlined in our safety topic presentation ideas posts, October is Pedestrian Safety Month. And at the end of October, we observe National School Bus Safety Week along with Teen Driver Safety Week. Given the persistent theme, a digital display presentation on pedestrian and driving safety will be helpful in your workplace.
The dangers of walking
Local news headlines in most areas have recently been flooded with struck-by incidents involving pedestrians. To get people’s attention within your facility, you can use local headlines in your digital display presentation (though you’ll want to be sensitive if the pedestrian in question was known to any workers within your facility). You can also use roadway fatality statistics like this to capture awareness:
In 2022, there were 7,522 pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in the United States. That is 21 pedestrians a day and 145 pedestrians a week. This represents a 0.7% increase from the 7,470 pedestrian fatalities in 2021.
Another quick stat from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that will grab the audience’s attention is:
In 2022, the number of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes was the highest since 1981.
That number often does not account for the bicycle riders who reached a similar fate:
1,105 bicyclists were killed in traffic crashes in 2022 (NHTSA).
When it comes to bicycles, laws vary from state to state regarding whether they should be considered a pedestrian or a vehicle. This can also vary between different municipalities. A cyclist’s classification is often based on where they are riding their bike. When traveling on the road or bike path, bicycles are typically classified as a vehicle, but if they are on the sidewalk, they are classified as a pedestrian. Regardless of which category they fall under, cyclists are people affected by the human factors experienced by drivers and should be included in your presentation.
Looking at young drivers
It’s always important to pay attention while driving, not only to bicycles and pedestrians surrounding you but also to the other drivers sharing the road. Look at others is a SafeStart critical error reduction technique, and it can help you learn how to address your own human factors in complex situations with numerous shifting variables. When we’re discussing road safety, an important set of those variables encompasses young drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
New teenage drivers are more susceptible to crashes, and the observance of Teen Driver Safety Week draws attention to specific risk factors for young people behind the wheel. But drivers are only part of the equation when it comes to road safety. That’s why Parachute—Canada’s national charity dedicated to reducing serious injuries—has redefined the week they formerly called National Teen Driver Safety Week (October 20–26, 2024) as Canadian Youth Road Safety Week, centered on the theme #OurFutureRoads.
As the Parachute website states:
“We have shifted our awareness week focus to encompass all youth road users, including drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and transit users, with the goal of empowering youth ages 15 to 24 to become more involved in road safety issues, with the goal of creating and supporting road systems in our communities that are safe and equitable.”
Your digital display presentation in the workplace should follow the same outline as Parachute’s #OurFutureRoads plan. Taking a holistic view of road safety will help people in your facility remember to look at everyone they share the road with, whether they’re in their car or using a crosswalk. And it does not need to only apply to your workers. Provide information that workers can take home to their teen drivers. After all, safety is a 24/7 concern and the hazards encountered on the road have effects that stretch far beyond your facility.
Habits for fighting complacency
Facts and stats are excellent ways to catch people’s attention and educate them about driver and pedestrian-related dangers. But it’s important to also include habits in your digital display presentation that people can work on in order to put road safety into action. Use the reliable digital display techniques from our instructional guide to craft your presentation with the following information:
1. Always be scanning
Regardless of whose right away it is, always do an L-C-R scan at every intersection. This will help you to see any vehicles that may not be following the traffic rules (e.g., running a red light, or turning without a signal/warning), school buses (there are big fines if you pass a stopped school bus while its lights are flashing, even if you didn’t see it), and pedestrians or bicycles that seem to appear out of nowhere (these people may also disobey traffic rules so scanning for them is a lot better than them hitting you).
Intersections aren’t the only place that requires your head on a swivel—drivers should also be scanning streets that are lined with parked cars. In cases like these, you’ll want to slow down and watch for people, bicycles or objects that may enter the roadway from between vehicles. On country roads or open highways, it’s a good idea to scan fields and ditches for animals that may suddenly enter your line of fire while driving and cause you to swerve, leave the road or crash.
2. Plan your route
There’s a reason that the speed limit is lower in school zones—unexpected incidents consistently happen near schools. This is why we observe National School Bus Safety Week. Nearly two-thirds of school bus occupant and pedestrian fatalities happen outside of the school bus. You can play your part in reducing school zone fatalities by planning your route ahead of time to avoid these and other high-pedestrian areas. And if these areas cannot be avoided, give yourself extra time or travel during non-peak hours so you can avoid rushing when in these dangerous sections of road.
3. Halloween fright night
October is also the month when we celebrate Halloween, which is an incredibly dangerous time to be on the road. Children are more likely to be struck by a car on Halloween night than any other day of the year. Ensure there’s a reminder in your October digital display presentation about the distractions people might encounter if driving on Halloween night.
4. The darkness factor
Darkness is a contributing factor to Halloween road dangers, but it’s not exclusive to the spooky holiday. Take the opportunity to remind employees that the sun is rising later and setting earlier in October, as we transition into fall, and they need to adapt their driving, walking or cycling accordingly. Depending on when you’re traveling to work, you may notice it’s a bit darker. According to the NHTSA, more than three-quarters of all pedestrian fatalities occur in conditions other than daylight. Planning your travel around the sun—if and when possible—is another habit that can help improve safety. If you have to travel in the dark, be aware that more attention to your periphery is required. Meanwhile, if you are walking, avoid wearing dark clothing at night. And if you are biking, always travel with safety lights.
Sometimes a simple reminder can be the spark to set people on the path of working on the habits that will save them from injury or worse. Set up your October digital display presentation with these tips to keep everyone safe this month—especially pedestrians.