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SAFETYThe DOT’s 5 Safety City facilitiesteach safe streets skills to 30,000children and adults annuallySAFETY EDUCATIONDOT also conducts safetyeducation and outreach programsfor children, parents, educators,senior citizens and all New Yorkers.DOT’s Division of Safety Educationvisits 600 schools and 100 seniorcenters a year. The unit works withkids and teachers to collect dataon speeding and distracted drivingand envision safer designs forstreets. The DOT’s five Safety Cityprojects use a variety of educationmethods to teach children safetywalking and biking habits. Thefacilities have mock versions ofstreets, so children can practicecrossing the street safely in avariety of situations.Safety Education targets specialcorridors where crashes are highand schools and Senior Centersare many. In 2011 we piloted thiswork on Adam Clayton Powellfrom 135th to 153rd street andcontinued the work in the 2011–2012 school year using ManhattanSafety City as a base. SafetyEducators worked with studentsin schools along the corridor tocollect data about speeding,distracted driving and other safetyconditions near school on ACP.Students requested a speed boardwhich was put in place in May of2011 to educate the communityabout the prevalence of speeding.When DOT presented plans fortraffic calming and other measures,Safety Education staff worked atthe tables. Meetings were held withprincipals and other administratorsin schools and with Senior Centersto review the plans and manysubmitted letters in support ofthe changes. In 2012–2013, wefocused the work from 135th to117th streets. We worked with atotal of 25 schools and 4 SeniorCenters along this corridor.Commissioner Sadik–Khan, City Councilmember James Vacca, and friends checktraffic speedsWORKZONE SAFETYThe U.S. Department ofTransportation and the FederalHighway Administration presentNational Work Zone AwarenessWeek each spring, to bring nationalattention to motorist and workersafety in work zones and to callAlbany’s attention to potential NYState legislation that could lessenthe problem of danger in workzones.NYCDOT participates to raisedriver awareness and decreasethe number of persons, includingmembers of DOT, killed and hurtin motor vehicle crashes in workzones. 7 NYCDOT workers havedied in work zone incidents in the lasttwo decades, while 22 have beeninjured in work zone incidents since2009. DOT places work zone safetyribbon magnets on all DOT vehiclesand runs print, radio and outdoor adsto promote work zone safety in bothNew York City and in Albany.NYCDOT favors state legislationto intensify penalties against driverswho are convicted of either killing orinjuring construction workers in workzones. A proposed bill to serve as adeterrent to driving carelessly in awork zone was not acted upon by theState Legislature.56Chapter 4: DOT’s Public Conversation on Street Safety