Recipes for the Road

Posted on 11/10/2023 by Traffic Safety Team

The Florida Department of Transportation District Two and the Community Traffic Safety Program are excited to present our 26th Annual Recipes for the Road. For over a quarter century, we have worked to make a positive impact and help keep people safe on our roads during the holidays. This year, we have a 12-page Recipes for the Road book available as a digital flipbook, PDF download, and a limited print edition for team members.

We have two-sided Recipes for the Road cards and Celebrate Safely posters for our District Two team members to distribute. Click here to place your order.

Much appreciation goes to Northeast Florida’s Community Traffic Safety Team members, partners, and volunteers who continue promoting traffic safety. They share our passion and goal of reducing alcohol-related traffic crashes and fatalities on our roadways. These people and organizations have been instrumental in the success of our Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver program and the Recipes for the Road booklet!

Our goal is to help stop impaired driving and reduce alcohol-related traffic crashes and fatalities in Northeast Florida this holiday season and throughout the year. Every issue has unique nonalcoholic drinks, mocktails, appetizers, treats, and traffic safety tips. Past editions from last year to the inaugural issue of 1997 are available below.

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Recipes for the Road

Last year, we celebrated with a special 25th-anniversary edition, available as a digital flipbook or PDF download, and a limited supply of printed keepsake books. Check out our celebration video below, highlighting all past editions!

Recipes for the Road is part of our Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver program. The program focuses on the SHSP strategies of both education and insight into creating safer communities. They are specifically designed to work with local partners, including law enforcement, team members, restaurants, and bars, to promote responsible alcohol service and personal use at events or party hosting. The campaign promotes safe transportation choices that encourage alternatives to driving while impaired.

Be Responsible – Do Not Drink and Drive

Thanksgiving through the New Year is a fun and festive time of year. Throughout this fall and winter season there are many celebrations, family gatherings, festivals, football pre-game tailgating and holiday parties. They are all best enjoyed when we celebrate responsibly. Please always drive safe and sober.

Please share and enjoy all these mocktails, food recipes, safety activity games and traffic safety tips. Click here to view our Mocktail drink and food recipe videos available online.

YouTube Mocktail Recipes for the Road Playlist:

Mocktails • Recipes • Safety Tips

Printable 8.5×11 Sheets with Recipe Cards, Traffic Safety, and Impaired Driving Tips

Recipes for the Road, 24th edition - inside pages — 2021 printable PDF

Recipes for the Road - 23rd edition — 2020 printable PDF

Previous Recipes for the Road Editions

Click here to view the Recipes for the Road digital flip bookcase of all volumes. The previous editions are below to view or download a PDF copy:

24th Recipes for the Road — *24th – 2021*

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver

Additional Impaired Driving Information and Resources

FDOT District Two CTSP’s Impaired Driving Traffic Safety Messages
FDOT Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
NHTSA Drug-Impaired Driving and Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving
CDC’s Florida Sobering Facts: Alcohol-Impaired Driving fact sheet
CDC’s Drug-Impaired Driving fact sheet
FLHSMV Driving Safety – Impairment is No Illusion

Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Tips

Posted on 03/06/2023 by Traffic Safety Team

Florida’s weather may be unpredictable, but it offers many great opportunities to get outside. Residents, snowbirds, and vacationers enjoy riding their bikes and walking. Your Community Traffic Safety Team wants everyone to stay safe by following these pedestrian and bicyclist safety tips!

*Wear bright colors. Increase your visibility and use bike lights/reflectors.*

With so many people heading outdoors for a bike ride, motorists – please ALWAYS WATCH for bicyclists on the road. Bicyclists, wear bright colors or reflective gear, so you are visible.

*See and be seen. Make eye contact with drivers when crossing streets.*

Walking is great for your health and environment! Lace-up and get moving, but be sure to SEE and BE SEEN. Make eye contact with drivers. Drivers, please look in all directions for people on foot!

bike safety tip — *Be predictable. Use sidewalks where provided. Cross streets where it is legal to do so.*

It’s essential when riding your bicycle to be predictable. Use sidewalks and cross where it is legal. Motorists are to give three feet by law when following or passing cyclists.

*Stop! Look left, right, and left for traffic.*

Walking is a great way to get fresh air and exercise. Remember to look left, right, and left again for traffic. Motorists, please drive with care and share the road.

*Walk defensively. Be prepared for the unexpected.*

Pedestrians should walk defensively and be prepared for the unexpected. Drivers, please remember to focus on driving and eliminate distractions; phones down, eyes up!

*Be careful in parking lots. They can be more hazardous than streets!*

Be careful in busy parking lots – these areas can be more dangerous than streets! Drivers must proceed with caution and be on the lookout for pedestrians.

WALKING AND BIKING DEFENSIVELY

Walking and bike riding are great ways to stay active and healthy. Exercising is also a great tool for people of all ages and improves driving skills, especially older drivers. To learn more, check out our Defensive Driving Tools.

Exercise/Fitness Benefits:

Enhances mobility, flexibility, and balance
- Helps maintain or lose weight
- Reduces impact of illness and chronic disease
- Helps with better sleep and more energy
- Improves mood and self-confidence
- Boosts cognitive function

Click here for more great pedestrian safety tips for walkers and drivers.

Click here for important bicycle safety tips and resources for cyclists and motorists.

Target Zero

Posted on 08/03/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

The Community Traffic Safety Program is ground ZERO for Target Zero! The Northeast Florida Community Traffic Safety Teams work to connect, interact, plan, design, educate, and solve traffic safety concerns as part of Target Zero.

Ground ZERO for Target Zero

The Florida Department of Transportation is focused on Target Zero and employing the Safe System Approach in plans and projects. Everyone needs to share in the responsibility; everyone has a role!

FDOT District Two’s Community Traffic Safety Program has targeted traffic safety issues in Northeast Florida since 1994. We collaborate and solve local traffic safety concerns through education, enforcement, engineering, and emergency services. Click here to learn more about the CTSP and District Two Community Traffic Safety Teams.

TOGETHER TOWARD ZERO

Join Florida’s Target Zero Team. We are asking our network of Community Traffic Safety members and partners to continue their life-saving work and support this initiative. Please click her e to download, print, and display this 11×17 poster at your agency to help promote the vision of ZERO.

No Fatality or Serious Injury is Acceptable

Eight people are killed on average, and 49 are seriously injured on Florida’s roads daily. Driver behavior is a contributing factor in most severe and fatal crashes. This initiative focuses on connecting, interacting, and designing our transportation system to specifically relate to motorists most involved in serious injury and fatality crashes.

In Florida, Target Zero builds upon the national Vision Zero belief. Focusing on influencing dangerous driver behaviors before serious and fatal crashes occur. Target Zero aligns resources and establishes actions for all safety partners to take evolutionary steps. Improving how Florida connects, interacts, plans, designs, operates, and maintains its transportation system.

Eliminating roadway fatalities is our highest priority. Of course, we recognize that achieving zero deaths and serious injuries will not be easy and will require commitment, energy, and innovation. Together, we can make progress to achieve our target of ZERO.

Zero is our goal. A Safe System is how we will get there.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has committed zero deaths by adopting the Safe System Approach to address the high number of severe and fatal injuries resulting from vehicle crashes. This holistic view of the road system anticipates human mistakes. Furthermore, it keeps impact energy on the human body at tolerable levels. Safety is an ethical imperative for everyone, including users, designers, and transportation system owners.

The Safe System Approach is based on six principles:

Death and serious injury are not acceptable.
Humans make mistakes.
Humans are vulnerable.
Responsibility is shared.
Safety is proactive.
Redundancy is crucial.

Five elements that work together for a safer and more accessible transportation system. Reducing severe injuries and fatalities, as a result:

Safer Roadways – This includes design and planning to make roadways more forgiving of human mistakes by separating users in time and space. For example, dedicated bicycle lanes or the implementation of pedestrian scrambles. This is where only pedestrians are given dedicated time and space to navigate intersections.
Safer Speeds – The magnitude of speed is directly correlated to the survivability of a crash. Mitigation examples include implementing countermeasures such as lane narrowing or speed feedback signage. Designing context-based roadways that set “target speed” goals. If a crash occurs, it is at a speed at which humans can survive.
Safer Road Users – This includes ALL road users and encompasses shared responsibility. Users must practice safe behavior, such as using raised medians that protect pedestrians when crossing and make them more visible.
Safer Vehicles – Employing safety measures in vehicles that help prevent crashes or reduce the magnitude of a crash. This can reduce fatalities and serious injuries. For example, autonomous braking, lane departure warnings, and driver alcohol detection systems.
Post-Crash Care – Ensuring proper emergency response is deployed, and all traffic incident management systems work in unison. Additionally, this includes the integration of emergency vehicle preemption or automatic crash notification systems.

Safe System Approach vs. Traditional Road Safety Practices

Traditional road safety strives to modify human behavior and prevent all crashes. Whereas the Safe System approach also refocuses transportation system design and operation on anticipating human mistakes and lessening impact forces to reduce crash severity and save lives.

Traditional Approach

Prevent crashes

Improve human behavior

Control speeding

Individuals are responsible

React based on crash history

Safe System Approach

Prevent deaths and serious injuries

Design for human mistakes/limitations

Reduce system kinetic energy

Share responsibility

Proactively identify and address risks

Additional information and resources available:

Seasons of Safety

Posted on 02/21/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

Just as the seasons change, so do our safety messages!

The Seasons of Safety campaign was initially created in 2018 and included safety messaging for various holidays and celebrations. Each graphic contains a traffic safety reminder to share on social media. We have created messaging for New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day, Cinco do Mayo, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl, MLK Day, Presidents’ Day, Spring Break and Summer Travel.

We’ve included our collection of traffic safety greetings below. In our archive, at the bottom of this page, you will find past graphics organized by holiday.

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver and Recipes for the Road

Looking for more holiday messaging and mocktails? Visit the links below for more resources.

The Northeast Florida Department of Transportation District Two Community Traffic Safety Program has promoted our annual Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver campaign and the Recipes for the Road booklet for 24 years. According to Florida’s 2021-2025 Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), one out of every four traffic fatalities in Florida involves a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs. Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver and Recipes for the Road focus on the SHSP strategies of both education and insight into creating safer communities. They are specifically designed to work with local partners including law enforcement, team members, restaurants, and bars to promote responsible alcohol service and personal use at events or party hosting. They also promote safe transportation choices that encourage alternatives to driving while impaired.

Traffic Safety Talk Winter 2022

Posted on 01/26/2022 by Traffic Safety Team

FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program News and Information

Traffic Safety Talk Winter 2022 is now available. Click here to download the Winter 2022 edition of Traffic Safety Talk.

2021 Reflection + Planning for 2022

The landscape of the CTSP has changed over the past year, yet we continue to expand awareness of traffic safety issues and solve local traffic safety concerns. We have met the challenge of staying positive and engaged over the past year. Team members and community partners received 47,243 emails this year. This number does not include meeting invitations. This kept us connected and gave us the ability to share important information, tips, and strategies. Through engineering, education, enforcement, emergency medical services, and by providing resources on our website and social media channels, we remain a strong voice in traffic safety.
– Andrea Atran, M.A., CPM
FDOT District Two Community Traffic Safety Program Manager

Virtual Meetings + Engineering Concerns

Safety remains our number one goal as COVID concerns continue to impact everyone’s work and personal lives. Team meetings were held virtually through 2021 and will continue into 2022. Teams have used this opportunity to grow and welcome new members. We are proud to say our teams have risen to the challenge and continue to make progress in improving traffic safety in their communities. Over the past year, we held 72 virtual CTST meetings with a total of 924 attendees and 43 new members. Every CTST in District Two continued to address and solve traffic safety concerns. Since going virtual, we also reduced paper consumption and waste.

Focused On Impaired Driving Prevention

We have promoted our annual Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver campaign and the Recipes for the Road booklet for 24 years. According to Florida’s 2021-2025 SHSP, one out of every four traffic fatalities in Florida involves a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs.

CTST Members Step Up for Safety

Celebrate Safely, Designate a Driver continues to be a popular, grassroots campaign. It is focused on stopping impaired driving in Northeast Florida communities. With one out of every four traffic fatalities in Florida involving an impaired driver, according to Florida’s 2021-2025 SHSP, this safety message is a top priority for us.

Help Message Traffic Safety

In 2021, the majority of our content was shared electronically. We also worked on shipping out key traffic safety materials. This year, we ask for continued support in sharing traffic safety messages online, distributing information, and displaying materials. We plan to produce new activity books and traffic safety pieces in 2022.

Click here to read the complete CTSP Traffic Safety Talk – Winter 2022 Newsletter.

Traffic Safety Engineering Concerns

We rely on CTST members. Our members are local highway safety advocates. They are committed to solving traffic safety problems through a comprehensive, multi-jurisdictional, multidisciplinary approach. A major function of the CTSTs is to submit, review and address solutions for these concerns. Since last winter, we have:

Followed 259 Engineering Concerns
Received 115 New Concerns
Closed 117 Issues

Traffic Safety Team

Bringing you home safely

Author Archives: Traffic Safety Team