Published October 2019~
For the past week, valley residents have been buzzing about chalk silhouettes on valley roads – 91 of them to be exact. The 91 outlines are where pedestrians have died in our community; 89 of them from January 2018 through June of 2019.
All but 22 of these deaths happened from dusk to dawn; which is why local agencies, advocates and law enforcement joined together to develop new messaging that we all hope will save lives.
Beginning TODAY, those driving, walking and taking transit will see the messages on bus shelters, inside buses and on large LED boards around the city. In addition, they will see the public service announcements and hear radio spots urging them to be aware and be visible.
The idea behind the Day of Awareness for Pedestrian Safety Dusk to Dawn is this weekend’s end of daylight savings time. When workers left for home last Friday afternoon it was light out, the same way it has been since March 10th. However, when they leave work at the same time Monday, it will be dark! No matter how you travel, this reminder is critical, but especially to those on foot. Taking extra care to ensure drivers see you can save your life!
Commissioner Michael Naft, who helped paint the chalk outlines, will introduce the campaign and recognize the two Clark County School District students whose art provided the messaging for this effort. 
Cashman Middle School 8th grader Maggie White and Clark High School freshman Krymson Wiest developed two of the top 12 designs in the annual contest, Save A Life, Win A MacBook.
In the Spring, Clark County pedestrian fatalities were slightly above last year’s numbers year to date. That’s when Las Vegas Metro, UNLV’s Vulnerable Road Users Project and the Regional Transportation Center of Southern Nevada came together. Their mission was to develop messaging that would best educate walkers and drivers on this critical safety issue. This core group was joined by:
Vegas PBS,
Zero Fatalities,
iHeartMedia,
Kre8 Media,
Along with business sponsors:
Community Ambulance,
Lerner and Rowe,
Nevada Department of Transportation and,
Sunrise Trauma Center
To help drivers see pedestrians, our business sponsors have donated thousands of retro-reflective bands and bags to give out to transit users, walkers and cyclists at community events, on street corners and by law enforcement.
Many community agencies joined our chalking effort on Sunday, including:
CCSD Police,
Community Ambulance,
CLV Fire Department,
NLV Fire Department,
RTC Transit,
RTC Bike Program,
UMC Trauma,
Sunrise Trauma AND
LVMPD Traffic
To help highlight the very personal nature of each chalk outline, three families also participated in the effort. These families honored James Spagnoli, who died in February 2013, Mary Lily, who was killed on Thanksgiving 2015, and Johnny Smith, who was killed outside his middle school in March of this year. Unfortunately while pedestrian fatalities in Clark County are currently down from 2018, we have already reached 41 for the year.
BE VISIBLE FROM #DUSKTODAWN
#DONTKILLADREAM
Click on this interactive map for detailed information on 2018-2019 pedestrian fatalities
