Mesquite, TX – August 9, 2021 – With the first day of school in Mesquite on August 11, the City of Mesquite is encouraging safe driving with the “Drive Like Your Family Lives Here” campaign. The community education effort began in 2017 with signage and other efforts to make drivers aware of speeding, distracted driving and other traffic safety issues.
City Manager Cliff Keheley said, “We launched the Drive Like Your Family Lives Here campaign five years ago as a tool to educate drivers about slowing down in our neighborhoods. Speeding and distracted driving will always be a challenge. But having a message that our community can rally around and share with others, helps in our collective efforts to change driving behaviors.”
Keheley shared that the Mesquite Independent School District is very supportive of the campaign. They have partnered with the city to have bilingual signs placed at the entryway of every campus. Keheley and MISD Superintendent David Vroonland teamed up to produce a video PSA titled “It’s A Two-Way Street” where they encourage both drivers and pedestrians to be aware of their surroundings in school zones by putting their phones down and keeping their heads up. The city has merged its campaign to support the MISD’s “Stop on Red, Kids Are Ahead” campaign to promote safe driving around school buses.
The Mesquite Fire and Police Departments have been big supporters of the campaign. This year, fire engines parked near a few schools will display “Please Slow Down, School Back In Session” banners with its firefighters. The city’s police officers and firefighters have also recorded previous messages including “Obey The Sign or Pay The Fine” PSA with local residents. At neighborhood meetings, city staff distribute vehicle magnets to drivers and bilingual flyers to crime watch captains to help convey the messages to residents.
Keheley said, “We are not going to stop every driver from speeding or every pedestrian walking from being distracted, but if we can prevent one accident from happening, the campaign is working and we are keeping our community safer – and at the end of the day, that’s the goal.”