Prince George’s County leads the state of Maryland in traffic fatalities, both in raw numbers and by rate of death per 100k residents. Vision Zero was launched to create safe streets throughout the county by 2040. In 2023, WABA and PGCMLS partnered to host teens as part of the Vision Zero Youth Institute. The teens learned about advocacy and grassroots organizing and initially planned and conducted a walking audit of Hyattsville to assess pedestrian safety to present to County Council. Unfortunately, before they could present, two Riverdale Elementary students (a school down the street) were fatally struck by a vehicle as they walked in a crosswalk near their school in Riverdale Park, Maryland. At the time of the crash, there was no crossing guard present at the intersection. The deaths drove home the importance and urgency of the teens’ work and they immediately decided they needed to think bigger and the Vision Zero Youth Transportation Town Hall began to take shape.

The teens were the visionaries for the event and drove the process from start to finish. PGCMLS and WABA provided the connections the teens needed to produce a successful event, setting up meetings with elected officials, press, and community agencies who then shared their expertise with the teens. The “Teen Transportation Safety Town Hall” had over 100 teens attend. For three hours attendees were able to rotate through different workshops and events including first aid/stop the bleed training, advocacy poster printing with Booklab, bicycle safety and maintenance sessions, and focus group sessions with elected officials and government agencies. The event also allowed the teens to present the findings of their walking audit to a large audience including County Council members, local mayors, and officials with the County Department of Public Works and Transportation. The high profile event empowered teens and improved awareness of student safety issues.

The teens are now seeing advocacy become action with increased use of crossing guards for the 24-25 school year and county crossing guard hiring fairs. The teen advocates presented the student audience with a Vision Zero toolkit to provide resources for students about vulnerable road users, speaking to elected officials and decision makers, and how to protect vulnerable road users in Prince George’s County. Grant funding will allow the project to continue a second year and a new group of youth leadership institute teens now have the framework to do future walking audits and large scale advocacy and awareness campaigns.