Motorcycle Safety Signs Going Up Around City
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Pittsburgh is one of just 30 cities in the entire country that have been selected to receive some new traffic signs.
Many were installed today and they're all aimed at keeping the traveling public safe.
City crews were hard at work at the intersection of Fifth and Shady Avenues in Shadyside Wednesday morning.
They were installing bright yellow street signs that read, "Watch for Motorcycles."
"We hope that they'll become a part of your daily driving life, just like a yield sign or a stop sign or a watch for children sign. When people look at these signs, we really hope they'll take that extra time to look out for motorcyclists on the road," Allstate Spokesperson Chris Conner said.
The signs are part of a national Allstate Insurance company campaign designed to reduce the number of motorcycle crashes all across the country.
The initiative is called, "Once is never enough."
"'Once is never enough' alludes to looking left, looking right, and then looking left again when you come up on an intersection because we know that most motorcycle collisions with vehicles occur at intersections," Pittsburgh Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski said.
Pittsburgh was selected because of the high number of motorcycles out on the roads and because of statistics.
According to PennDOT, in 2010 in Allegheny County, there were 320 motorcycle crashes and 132 of those were at intersections. Of those crashes, 15 were fatal.
City leaders hope the new signs will help keep people behind the wheel alert.
PennDOT and city engineers picked the locations based on traffic volume.
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