Photo by Ron Burkett.
"Trussville Safe" yard signs in front of houses along neighborhood streets in Trussville on Oct. 1.
With the increase in foot traffic along Trussville’s streets, a group of citizens is encouraging residents and visitors to help make the city’s roads safer.
Trussville Safe (TVL Safe), a community safety awareness campaign, was launched in September by stay-at-home mom and former teacher Kristi Jones. The campaign asks drivers to take a pledge that while in their cars they will focus on the road, limit their distractions, follow the laws and be courteous to others.
Jones said she recognized the need for such a campaign as more people are walking to schools in their community and downtown undergoes revitalization.
“We’re changing the way our city works, the way our city gets around and the way our city lives, so we’ve also got to change the way we think as drivers,” Jones said. “It’s not about saying you’re doing something wrong, it’s about noticing what we’re all ourselves doing that seems so little. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to go a little bit faster in our neighborhood than we’re supposed to, but the reality is you don’t know when there is a bush blocking a child on a bike or when you’re going to come around a curve and be going faster than you should be or when you’re going to look down at your phone and the car in front of you is going to stop. Those little things that don’t seem like a big deal could ultimately be life-changing.”
TVL Safe aims to provide safety and driver awareness tips through its Facebook and Twitter accounts (@TVLSafe), but Jones realized that there was a need for a visual reminder for everyone to see, which led to the creation of yard signs and car magnets.
While the goal of the campaign is outlined in its pledge, Jones says the simplest intent is “to get people to take a breath when they sit down behind the wheel and put their mind on the road.”
Since first reaching out Mayor Buddy Choat and city council members in the summer, Jones said the response has been tremendous as more people learn about TVL Safe.
Everybody that we have reached out to has been so positive, so encouraging and so excited. People are like, ‘You are so right. We need this. We’re all in the rat race everyday of checking things off our list, and we all just need to slow down and think about this,’” Jones said.
Word of TVL Safe began to spread in mid-September with a preview of the campaign at the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon, followed by a proclamation by the mayor and city council on Sept. 20.
“Like most campaigns, it’s about educating and making people aware of doing the right thing,” Choat said. “We want to be unique. We hope that our community will be one of the first to lead this.”
TVL Safe began with the help of eight founding sponsors: Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home and Gardens, Birmingham Academy of Martial Arts (BMA), Birmingham Integrative Health, Emergency Pet Care, Nelms Pharmacy, Parcels Too Business Center, Riders Harley-Davidson and Trussville East Realty South. Video production for the campaign has been provided by Peter Bradberry.
Since its launch, the campaign has been part of the Hewitt-Trussville homecoming parade, Trussville’s National Night Out and the Fall Freedom Fest.
Jones said the success helps fuel campaigning into the winter and next year.
“Everything keeps falling into place and it feels like the right thing to do. That’s what driving us – the excitement and encouragement from the community that we’ve reached out to and spoken to so far. We love our city, we love the people in our city and we just want to make Trussville as safe as possible. We hope this can be positive and bring our community together for a common goal,” Jones said.
For updates on where to pick up a TVL Safe yard sign, visit Facebook.com/TVLSafe.
