DECATUR, Ga. – The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) recently awarded $30,000 to the DeKalb County Board of Health to improve
pedestrian safety and motorist behavior.
The funding will support a new initiative, Live Safe DeKalb, aimed at fostering safety behaviors among socio-economically disadvantaged residents
who are at high risk for pedestrian injuries.
Through a multi-pronged, community-based campaign, Live Safe DeKalb will focus on areas with large numbers of pedestrian injuries and fatalities.
These include Buford Highway, Candler Road, Covington Highway, Memorial Drive and Wesley Chapel Road.
Among DeKalb County residents, one in five deaths from external causes is due to a motor vehicle crash. Also, about one in six hospitalizations and
one in six emergency room visits is due to a crash (DeKalb County Status of Health Report, 2015). Of the 196 fatalities related to motor vehicle crashes
in DeKalb County from 2014 to 2016, about one in three involved pedestrians (GOHS, 2016).
In fact, pedestrian fatalities have increased more than any other motor vehicle-related fatalities including alcohol, speed and motorcycle fatalities
(GOHS Traffic Safety Facts 2014-2016).
For more information on Live Safe DeKalb or the Board of Health’s other health promotion initiatives, call (404) 508-7847 or email DeKalb.HPP@dph.ga.gov.
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