SAFE TRANSPORTATION FOR EVERY PEDESTRIAN CASE STUDY

"Watch for Me NC" Combines 

Education and Enforcement to Improve 

Pedestrian Safety 

North Carolina

KEY ELEMENTS:

Public Education & Engagement

Law Enforcement Training & Support

The Watch for Me NC program is a two-pronged safety

initiative that seeks to reduce pedestrian and bicycle

crashes through safety messaging and high-visibility

traffic enforcement. The program began as a pilot in

2012 with four local agencies and grew to partner with

39 in 2019. A recent program evaluation demonstrated

pedestrian crash reductions for participating counties.

BACKGROUND

The North Carolina Department of 

Transportation (NCDOT) launched Watch 

for Me NC to combat rising motorist 

crashes with pedestrians and bicyclists. The 

program partners with towns, cities, and 

counties to conduct high-profile traffic 

safety enforcement operations and 

promote pedestrian and bicyclist safety

through media communications and 

educational activities.

Watch for Me NC is a competitive statewide

program, and the University of North

Carolina’s (UNC's) Highway Safety Research

Center (HSRC) provides technical and

local implementation assistance. Each

winter, NCDOT invites localities to submit

program applications wherein towns and

cities must describe both their commitment

to promoting pedestrian and bicyclist

safety and their capacity for promoting

the campaign and coordinating with law 

enforcement.

For more information, please contact:

Ed Johnson, Safe Routes to School Coordinator, NCDOT

erjohnson2@ncdot.gov | 919.707.2604

Sarah O'Brien, UNC Highway Safety Research Center

swobrien@hsrc.unc.edu | 919.843.1845

Figure 1. Graphic. Watch for Me poster.

The two primary program activities

are messaging and law enforcement

operations. NCDOT distributes tens of

thousands of bumper stickers, bi-lingual

rack cards, brochures, banners, and

posters with pedestrian and bicycle safety

messages across partner communities.

For example, bumper stickers include

messages like “I brake for people,” and rack

cards contain general road safety rules

such as motorists must yield to people in

crosswalks.

NCDOT purchases targeted radio and

transit advertisements, maintains a program

website, and issues press releases to further 

spread the program’s messages. 
Case Study: Watch for Me NC Combines Education and Enforcement to Improve Pedestrian Safety 

STEP: https://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/ped_bike/step/

The program also provides law enforcement

officers with bike lights and reflective

bracelets to distribute to children and adults

traveling in low-light conditions, creating 

posi

The second program component involves

law enforcement trainings and traffic safety

operations. NCDOT sends experienced

traffic safety officers to conduct day-long

trainings with local law enforcement in

participating communities. During these

trainings, local law enforcement refresh

their understanding of bicyclist and

pedestrian regulations, such as when

vehicles must yield to pedestrians in the

crosswalk. Law enforcement officers also

engage in-field exercises to operationalize

these concepts and practice enforcement.

After the trainings, police depart

RESULTS

In some cases, enforcement observations

led the local agency to install additional

countermeasures. For example, the City of

Durham upgraded a school crossing from

a crosswalk-only to a Pedestrian Hybrid

Beacon after experiencing low driver

yielding durhing enforcement operations.

HSRC conducted a program evaluation

in 2018 and found that Watch for Me NC

reduced county-wide pedestrian crashes

from 2012 to 2017.

1

 Compared to counties

without participating communities, total

pedestrian crashes fell by 12.8 percent,

nighttime crashes were reduced by 21.7

percent, and failure to yield crashes 

decreased 9.5 percent. 

“The reality is that officers may have days of 

motor vehicle law and even a smaller portion 

on pedestrian and bicycle law during their initial 

training. Now that officers have these [Watch for 

Me NC trainings], they are able to confidently see 

and act on violations.” 

– Sgt. Brian Massengill, Watch for Me NC Trainer

Resources

1

Saleem, T., B. Lan, R. Srinivasan, L. Sandt, K. Blank, and S. Blank. (2018). Crash Based Evaluation of the Watch for Me NC Program. North 

Carolina Department of Transportation, Research Project No. 2018-38. Raleigh, NC. https://www.watchformenc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/2018-38-Final-Report-NCDOT-WFMEVAL.pdf. Last accessed April 30, 2020. 

Figure 2. Photo. Law enforcement participates in 

Watch for Me event. 

©2019 NCDOT.

total pedestrian 

crashes fell by 

12.8%

nighttime pedestrian 

crashes reduced by 

21.7%

failure to yield

crashes decreased 

9.5%

Watch for Me NC reduced countywide 

pedestrian crashes from 2012 to 2017. 

Compared to counties without participating communities: