Author Archives: Traffic Safety Team

Buckle Up Buddy Heart

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Sweetheart Craft for Valentine’s Day

Check out our cute Buckle Up Buddy Heart and bring some safety fun into Valentine’s Day. It’s time to get crafty with the kiddos (or for those of us who are just a kid at heart). Don’t be afraid of pink and red, hearts, and even glitter. This is a unique Valentine’s holiday craft with a simple traffic safety message.

Buckle Up Buddy Heart Artwork
Make your own Buckle Up Buddy Heart Valentine!

You and your family or school class can make these easy Buckle Up Buddy Hearts. The arms and legs bounce and jiggle… make us smile and want to giggle while remembering the importance of buckling up!

This is a cute DIY craft for any time of year. Kids can make a Buckle Up Buddy Heart for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or as a birthday card. In addition to being a fun art project, it also sends a positive traffic safety message. Occupant protection is always a primary concern. All drivers and passengers should be properly restrained with a lap and shoulder seat belt, and children should be correctly strapped into the right car seat that fits their size.

Download this free printable Buckle Up Buddy Heart Valentine craft sheet and follow the instructions. 

CPS Buckle Up Craft template
Buckle Up Buddy Heart – Valentine Craft
Template by Northeast Florida DOT District Two
Community Traffic Safety Team

SUPPLIES:

  • white card stock (or heavy paper)
  • crayons or markers
  • glitter or glitter glue (optional)
  • scissors
  • glue or glue stick
Buckle Up Buddy Heart Activity Card

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Download and print the free template provided above.
  2. Color and decorate the hearts.
  3. Cut out all the pieces.
  4. Fold arms and leg strips like an accordion.
  5. Glue the arms and legs onto the big heart.
  6. Finally, glue the small hearts on to create hands and feet.
CPS Buckle Up Craft

You can write a personalized message on the back of your Valentine card. We like, “Be Mine. Be Safe. Be Buckled Up.” Don’t forget to give your special Buckle Up Buddy Heart to someone you love. Or leave it in the car as a reminder to all those you love to wear their seat belt for every car ride.

Traffic Safety School Days
W.H.A.L.E. Check Program
Traffic Safety for Children
Child Passenger Safety

UPDATED Florida Bike Safety Law

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We are concerned Florida is still one of the most dangerous states for cyclists and want to take this opportunity to remind cyclists, pedestrians and motorists of the updated Florida bike safety law. Passed to improve bike safety on our roadways, this bill went into effect on July 1, 2021, and was .

2021 summary of some of the updated Florida bike safety law changes that were made to the existing statute:

  • Motorists can make a right turn while passing a bicyclist only if the bicyclist is a minimum of 20 feet from the intersection.
  • Florida driver’s license exams will now include bicycle safety questions.
  • Cyclists in groups of 10 or fewer can proceed through an intersection after coming to a complete stop. Motorists must let the last rider pass before proceeding.
  • Motorists MUST obey the 3 feet passing law.

Drivers who do not obey the law could be subject to a non-criminal moving violation.

To read more about these important updates, visit the Florida Senate website: CS/SB 950: Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety.

Northeast Florida Bicyclist Crash Facts:

  • 6,146 Floridians were injured in bike-related crashes in 2021. Of those, Northeast Florida DOT District 2 reported 500 injuries, which includes 13 fatalities. The number of fatal injuries from bicycle crashes declined from 23 in 2020.
  • Bicycle fatality and serious injury crashes made up about 8% of the total fatality and serious injury crashes on our Northeast Florida District roadways during 2021.
  • Almost ¾ of all bike crashes happen in broad daylight.
  • Bike crashes tend not to be the result of the cyclist or motorist being impaired.
  • Duval County had the most serious bike-related injuries and fatalities in District 2 in 2021. 
updated Florida bike safety law

The Traffic Safety Team website has dozens of important bicycle safety tips and resources. They are available for free. Below are some that you may download, print and share.

Visit our Bicycle Safety page for more resources. Materials are free to download and share. There are bookmarks, tip cards, posters and social media graphics. We also have a Safety for Kids page with bike safety activities!

Give 3 feet when passing

Bike Safe Activity Card

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Pick up a free Bike Safe Activity Card at your local Northeast Florida library. The Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP) distributed 15,000 Bike Safe activity cards this month to public libraries in all 18 counties of FDOT District Two. 

Bicycle Safety Tips for Cyclists and Motorists

Be a Roll Model artwork
Bike Safe Activity Card with Traffic Safety Tips for Cyclists and Motorists

This Bike Safe Activity Card is double-sided with a helmet coloring page and a word search puzzle for kids or adults. There are bicycle safety messages for drivers and cyclists. The helmet safety rules are great for parents, caregivers and educators to discuss with children.

About the Bike Safety Activity Card Series

These free educational resources are part of a series that will be distributed quarterly this year. First, Drive Safe became available in January. Now, Bike Safe, launched in spring, which will be followed by Ride Safe this summer. Finally, Walk Safe in the fall. Each has a different activity or puzzle with important traffic safety tips and reminders.

The Northeast Florida CTSP has long since partnered with local, county public library systems. The FDOT District Two covers 18 counties, from rural to urban communities. Libraries are a wonderful venue for the public to access educational and informational resources. The are also a wonderful place for our Community Traffic Safety Teams to promote key traffic safety messages, like biking safe (wear a helmet) and driving safe (share the road).

Be a Roll Model activity card

We created this free digital, one-sided 8.5×11 Bike Safe sheet available here for downloading, printing and sharing with your community.

Our goal is to reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities on our Northeast Florida roadways and protect all road users. Together, we can make traffic safety a top priority. Check out the other three safety and educational activity cards in this series below:

Drive Safe Activity Card
Ride Safe Activity Cards
Walk Safe Activity Card

The Northeast Florida CTSP website has many tips and resources available. For more Bicycle Safety Tips, click here.

Teen Drivers Speeding

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The Northeast Florida Community Traffic Safety Team examines the tragic trend of teen drivers speeding.

Teens and Speeding: Breaking the Deadly Cycle Report

In January, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), in partnership with Ford Motor Company Fund, released a new report, Teens and Speeding: Breaking the Deadly Cycle.  The new analysis for GHSA found that from 2015 to 2019, teen drivers and passengers (16-19 years of age) accounted for a greater proportion of speeding-related fatalities (43%) than all other age groups (30%). During this five-year period, 4,930 teen drivers and passengers died in speeding-related crashes in the United States.

Recently, we created and shared a video of a local teen driver. He shared his reasons not to speed after receiving a hefty speeding citation. His story is a positive one as no one was hurt. Unfortunately, there are too many injuries and fatalities among teenage drivers and passengers.

Teen Driver Statistics in FDOT District Two

FDOT District Two had 6,928 total teen driver crashes in 2019. Despite a strong Graduated Driver License (GDL) law in Florida, we are still experiencing a high volume of teen crashes. Below are some more statistics on teen drivers in our communities.

teen driver stats on age
teen driver stats on gender
teen driver stats by county
teen driver stats
NOTE: Fatal/Serious/Other Injury in bar graphs indicates persons not crashes.
SOURCES: 2019 CARS data (unofficial at time of report)

The numbers of crashes with injuries increase as inexperienced teen drivers get more confident and start showing careless driving behaviors like speeding. Males and females injured in teen driver crashes are about even. Serious injuries and fatalities are predominantly male, by almost double. Duval County, with the higher populated–urban areas, illustrates a drastic increase of injuries and fatalities among teen drivers. Together, our traffic safety community, partners, parents and caregivers can help reduce risky and careless teen driving through education, training, and law enforcement.

More Teens and Speeding Reports

Click here to read the complete GHSA news release: As Traffic Deaths Spike During COVID-19, New Report Examines Unsettling Trend of Teen Drivers Speeding – and Dying – on America’s Roads.

Click here for the full GHSA and Ford Motor Company Fund PDF report: Teens and Speeding: Breaking the Deadly Cycle, which examines the significant role speeding plays in teen driver fatalities and offers practical tools to help parents rein in this lethal driving habit.

Additional Teen Drivers Speeding Resources:
Traffic Safety

Drive Safe Activity Cards

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The Community Traffic Safety Program (CTSP) distributed 15,000 Drive Safe activity cards throughout Northeast Florida in January. They are available for free at your local library.

Coloring Activity Card with Safe Driving Reminders

Drive Safe Activity Card
Drive Safe Activity Card Available for Free at Northeast Florida Public Libraries

This Drive Safe activity card is double-sided with two coloring pages for kids or adults. There are traffic safety messages for drivers which are also great conversation starters for parents to discuss with children.

Download, print and share this free Drive Safe activity sheet here – a single sided, 8.5×11 print quality digital file.

The FDOT District Two covers 18 counties, from rural to urban communities. Our Northeast Florida CTSP has partnered with local, county public library systems for many years. Libraries are a wonderful venue for the public to access educational and informational resources, and for our Community Traffic Safety Teams to promote key traffic safety messages, like driving safe, always wearing your seat belt, stopping distracted driving and sharing the road.

Drive Safe Educational Materials

These Drive Safe educational materials are part of a series that are also available: Bike Safe, Ride Safe and Walk Safe. Each has a different activity or puzzle with important traffic safety tips and reminders. Our goal is to help reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities on our roadways. Together we can make traffic safety a top priority.

Walk Safe Activity Card
Bike Safe Activity Card
Ride Safe Activity Cards