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Watch for Me CT offers Norwalk free education materials, videos and multilingual outreach
Summary
Amy Watkins of Watch for Me CT told the Norwalk Bike Walk Commission the state-funded program provides free driver-focused education, social-media tiles, short videos and school outreach, and she offered to work with the commission’s education subcommittee.
Amy Watkins, representing Watch for Me CT, told the Norwalk Bike Walk Commission on Jan. 5 that the Connecticut Department of Transportation-funded program provides free education resources aimed primarily at drivers to reduce bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
Watkins described services the nonprofit-state partnership can provide to Norwalk: co-branded social-media tiles that explain new traffic configurations (for example, concurrent signaling), short shareable videos (including material on e-bike usage), walk audits, helmet giveaway events, and school-based outreach. She said Watch for Me CT is housed at Connecticut Children's Medical Center’s injury-prevention program and that its two-person team partners with local police, the DMV and Vision Zero initiatives.
When commissioners asked about motorist education, Watkins said most materials are aimed at drivers because drivers have the greatest responsibility for safety. She described prior work training driver-education instructors, noted challenges tied to privatized driver's education and equity, and said Watch for Me CT is working on a short video to be shown at license renewal that would include bike/ped safety.
Watkins also addressed language access: most of Watch for Me CT’s materials are available in English and Spanish and the program can use hospital translation services for other languages; the group also produces pictorial handouts for audiences with limited literacy. She agreed to attend the commission’s education subcommittee and help tailor short videos and materials for Norwalk’s upcoming infrastructure changes.
Watkins asked commissioners to identify priorities and offered to connect the commission with other local programs that can provide in-person services at scale.
Ending: Watkins said she would remain on the call and follow up by email; the commission signaled interest in collaboration and agreed to coordinate next steps with the education subcommittee.
