RALEIGH – Ten new communities will soon benefit from participation in Watch for Me NC, a comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle safety program aimed at reducing bicycle and pedestrian crashes and fatalities in North Carolina.
“We are excited to welcome both returning and new community partners to the program,” said Hanna Cockburn, director of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Division and interim director of the state agency’s Public Transportation Division. “We look forward to incorporating fresh ideas as we work together to improve safety for all road users. The Watch for Me NC program continues to mature and serves as a partnership model for other cities and states across the nation.”
The Watch for Me NC program provides training for law enforcement officers on ways to improve safety for road users in their areas. Communities also will receive technical assistance, materials and purchased media promotion such as radio advertisements to help raise public awareness about important pedestrian and bicycle safety issues.
The program leverages the strengths of law enforcement and public education to encourage safe and secure places to walk and bike. The NCDOT selected the following new partners to join 29 returning communities across the state:
- Beaufort (Carteret County)
- Beech Mountain (Watauga County)
- Belmont (Gaston County)
- Blowing Rock (Watauga County)
- Farmville (Pitt County)
- Hertford (Perquimans County)
- Roanoke Rapids (Halifax County)
- Shelby (Cleveland County)
- Wendell (Wake County)
- Winston-Salem (Forsyth County)