'Walking Billboards' to promote bike and pedestrian safety hitting DC region

WASHINGTON - If you see billboards walking in the area, you're not seeing things!

The 2025 spring season Street Smart campaign is officially launching on Monday, which includes "Walking Billboards." Some of those walking billboard signs are reminding drivers to slow down. 

Street Smart Campaign launches in DC region 

What they're saying:

"Slow down. Speed is one of the deadliest factors on our roadways. We know that even going an extra five or ten miles per hours, just so temping, really does create an extra risk for those who are on our sidewalks, in our roadways. So, the message is clear: slow down. Speeding is not worth it. It puts you and everyone else on the roadway at risk," said the Director of D.C.'s Highway Safety Office, Rick Birt. 

The D.C. Highway Safety Office, V-DOT, M-DOT, D-DOT and more have partnered with the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments to launch the Street Smart safety effort. 

Members carrying a backpack that hoist up the "Walking Billboards" patrolled the area over by Georgia Ave. and Park Rd. NW. 

FOX 5 tested a crosswalk a few blocks south of there, by Georgia Ave. and Morton St. NW and found plenty of vehicles not stopping for a person in the crosswalk, even though signs around the crosswalk clearly warn drivers to do so. 

Promoting safer streets for pedestrians and drivers

Last year, the MWCOG says the DC Region saw 110 pedestrian and cyclists killed. That number is down from the region's peak in 2022. However, it's still far from Vision Zero efforts that, in DC for example, called for ZERO pedestrian and cyclist fatality by 2024. 

Almost half of the 110 people killed last year, lost their lives on DC's streets alone, according to District data. 

There are several important safety tips to follow. Whether you're in a car, on a bike or walking, one Street Smart Ambassador hopes people at least heed this one:

"I think eye contact is the main thing. I know a lot of the times, people are in the cars -- they're not always looking, looking, looking.  As a pedestrian, you're on your phone or you're distracted or you're in your beats and you're not looking, looking, looking, making sure that that driver is seeing you and you're seeing them," said Ayana Aquila Garzillo .

The region will be seeing these "Walking Billboards" all across the greater D.C. Region starting on Monday and lasting into early May. 

Track DC traffic fatalities and incidents using Vision Zero DC Crash Analysis.