The City of Atlanta needs to take responsibility for fixing broken sidewalks.

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In Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., tax dollars pay for sidewalk repairs, with substantial amounts budgeted each year. The City of Atlanta, in contrast, makes sidewalk repairs the responsibility of adjacent property owners.

Undercover police officers had several near misses Thursday afternoon in a pedestrian sting operation in downtown Atlanta. The officers, who were dressed like college students, repeatedly crossed streets in crosswalks near Georgia State University as part of an enforcement sting.

The field exercise was part of an all-day Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Workshop organized by PEDS for police officers from 20 jurisdictions across Georgia.

Watch the CBS News clip here. Scroll past the text to watch some dramatic near misses.

A recent national TV feature called Blueprint America, a PBS initiative exploring the state of the nation’s infrastructure, spotlighted Buford Highway, Georgia’s deadliest road for pedestrians. Watch the 8-minute video here.

The video focused attention on what PBS reporter Jon Larson called a “Great American Mismatch”: suburban roads and the people who live along them. Contrary to stereotypes about inner city poverty, 85 percent of metro Atlanta’s lower income residents live in the suburbs. Buford Highway was built for cars. “Problem is,” Larson said, “many people here can’t afford them.”

To encourage a better balance between people and cars, PEDS honors outstanding projects, places and people who have contributed significantly toward making metro Atlanta safer and more accessible for pedestrians.

We need your help identifying potential award winners. Projects for consideration must be completed or almost completed during the past 12 months or be part of an ongoing program.

Download the Nomination Form as a Word Document
Download the Nomination Form as a PDF

Nomination deadline: Friday, September 24, 2010

Blueprint America, a PBS initiative exploring the state of the nation’s infrastructure, is shining the spotlight on Buford Highway, Georgia’s deadliest road for pedestrians.  The segment in which PEDS appears was broadcast as part of a TV news magazine called Need to Know on July 23 at 8:30pm.

Michael Orta, PEDS’ Director of Community Education, worked closely with the Blueprint America film crew, participating in interviews, providing background and crash data and connecting reporters with government officials and people living along Buford Highway.

Watch it here:

You can also see this video on the Need to Know website along with comments from other viewers.

PEDS has asked the Georgia Department of Transportation to address Buford Highway’s lack of safe crossings and high pedestrian fatality rate for over a decade. This film enables us to highlight these issues on a national stage. It also gives the Georgia Department of Transportation an opportunity to explain — after years of inaction — where its safety improvement plans stands.  Don’t miss this revealing show.

Or is the sign just moronic? Research has already shown you can’t really drive safely while using  a cell phone.  Driving while talking on a cell phone distracts the brain from its primary task: driving.  DeKalb County should remove this sign on East Roxboro Road and others like it.  See the sign on Google Maps street view.

It’s oxymoronic to see this sign in DeKalb County, especially since DeKalb passed a law in 2006 that punishes drivers who wreck while using cell phones.  If you cause a crash while talking on your cell phone in DeKalb, you could face prosecution and fines up to $500.  Yet, according to a report by WSB Channel 2 Action News in April 2010, the law is rarely enforced.

Good news: the Georgia DOT is replacing the flashing yellow crosswalk signals in the Chamblee/Doraville area of Buford Highway with HAWK signals. What’s a HAWK signal? It’s basically a pedestrian-activated red light. PEDS has been recommending these to GDOT for years. With 7 lanes of 45 – 55 mph traffic, Buford Highway is Georgia’s most dangerous road for pedestrians. HAWK signals provide a safe way for people to cross. The new signals haven’t been turned on yet, but GDOT’s Calvin Duncan says they’ll be turned on in about two weeks. More to come.

Gov. Sonny Perdue signed into law two bills that limit distracted driving. The first one prohibits drivers of all ages from texting while driving.  The second makes it illegal for anyone under 18 to use a cell phone while driving.

Violators can face a penalty of $150 and one point against their driver’s license.  The laws take effect July 1, 2010.   Pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers on Georgia’s roads will be safer as a result of these new laws.  It’s about time, don’t you think?

Will Governor Sonny Perdue veto Senate Bill 360 that would ban texting while driving?  We don’t know.  Perdue has until June 8 to sign it but he hasn’t been clear about his intentions.

Please call Sonny Perdue (404-656-1776) and urge him to sign SB 360 to ban texting while driving in Georgia!  If you prefer to write a letter, use this form.

Currently, text messaging is banned for all drivers in 27 states and the District of Columbia.  See an interactive map of texting bans here.  In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in 8 states (Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Texas, and West Virginia).

According to Georgia’s legislative rules, this bill will pass if Governor Perdue either signs it or does nothing. But, he could still decide to veto it.  So please call Perdue today (404-656-1776) and urge him to sign the bill.  This is a big deal and we need him to show his full support for a ban on texting while driving in Georgia.

MARTA’s Dump the Pump Day encourages people in Metro Atlanta to save time, money, and the environment, by forgoing fossil fuels and taking transit. This year, MARTA and the Georgia Aquarium are hosting a Video and Blog Contest to highlight “Why MARTA Matters to the Environment.” All submissions are due June 7, 2010, and winners will be announced on Dump the Pump Day on June 17th. Get the entry form and details here.