County officials are going straight to one of the groups most affected by pedestrian collisions with a new pedestrian safety project.
The county’s Department of Transportation is offering an award of up to $2,000 to teams of high school students that create posters, paint sidewalks, hold school-wide assemblies or take other measures to “educate high school students about the importance of pedestrian safety.”
Safe Kids Worldwide, a D.C.-based nonprofit, recently reported one in five high school students cross the street while distracted. The report also claimed a 25 percent increase in pedestrian injuries among those ages 16 to 19 over the last five years.
Some of that, at least in the examples of educational material the county provided, is due to kids with headphones or kids texting while crossing the street.
The $2,000 Walk Your Way grant are meant to piggyback on programs at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring and Seneca Valley High School in Germantown.
Students must work in teams of at least two and have a teacher or staff sponsor. Applications (see PDF below) are due by 5 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 16. The project must be completed by April, 30 2014.
PDF: Walk Your Way Application
Photo via MCDOT
