Tampa Unveils Initiative To Make Crosswalks Safer

TAMPA, FL —Tampa Mayor Jane Castor is not only making crosswalks in the city safer for children, she's making them more attractive as well.

Crosswalks to Classrooms is part of the mayor's initiative to create colorful crosswalks that will make crosswalks more visible to drivers, so they'll pay attention when children are crossing roads to and from schools.

It's part of a safety movement called Vision Zero Network. The movement started in Sweden and is now used in more than 40 cities across the United States, including New York City, where there has been a 30 percent reduction in pedestrian fatalities over the last five years.

According to Castor, Tampa is one of the worst cities in the country for pedestrian fatalities. Last year there were about 200 fatalities.

“We’re working with the school system and what we’re doing is crunching the data to see where the crashes are at and where those crosswalks would be determined, where the most dangerous are, and that’s where we’ll take our next project,” said Castor.