Green Ribbon Month to Reduce Speeding in School and Residential Areas

After three children were killed in one year in the same cross walk, Davis County in Utah began a campaign in 1998 to raise awareness among drivers to drive with caution and care in school and residential areas . Nation-wide, hundreds of children each year are hit by cars and killed. 43% of the child pedestrians killed in traffic-related incidents are hit after school.

Green was chosen as the color of the campaign because it corresponds with the green light for “walk” used in the electronic cross walk signals. Green ribbons were displayed on street and traffic signs, cars, people, fences and trees. The local parent-teacher association had parents and drivers in the community pledge to drive 5 miles per hour in designated school zones and residential areas that are frequented by children. Community members also pledged to yield to pedestrians, to stop at crosswalks and to not pass a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian. Children in the community signed pledges to practice safe pedestrian behaviors. The campaign began with a publicized press conference with representatives from several organizations and the police department.

To decrease the number of children hit by motor vehicles in school zones and crosswalks.

The project was a success in Davis County and spread to the entire state of Utah. The State Governor declared September to be Green Ribbon Month, and in the fourth year after the program began, more than 35,000 people participated. Pedestrian and motor vehicle crashes decreased every year in Utah after the implementation of the program.