VISION
Polk County will have
a Quality of Life that
encourages diverse
backgrounds to live
in harmony while
developing physically,
spiritually, mentally,
and culturally, within
a healthy and safe
environment.
Mary Crowe, Ph.D. - Co-Chair,
Florida Southern College
Tom Deardorff - Co-Chair Polk
County BoCC, Polk TPO
ABOVE
Pledge to Slow Down Campaign,
Chuck Barmby - City of Lakeland
launched 2017.
John Bohde - Polk County BoCC
Jason Brown - Road & Trail
Bicycles LEFT
Millie Brown - Florida DOT The Polk Vision Pedestrian/Bicycle
Deborah Chesna - Florida DOT Safety Team held a walking meeting,
Julia Davis - Polk TPO touring several high traffic areas for
Diana Degroot - Lakeland Regional
Health both vehicles and pedestrians/cyclists
Bryan Dorman - Bartow Police
Department targeting engineering, education, and
to learn more about the importance of
law enforcement.
Steve Githens - State Farm
Lauren Hinton - Florida
Department of Health in Polk
County
PEDESTRIAN & BICYCLE SAFETY LEAD TEAM
Patricia Jackson - City of Polk City The Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Team was convened in response to a
Ryan Kordek - Polk TPO “Dangerous by Design 2016” study, released by Smart Growth America, which
Jason Lewis - Kimley-Horn reports the Lakeland-Winter Haven metropolitan area as the sixth-most
Pam Luce - Polk County Public
Schools dangerous metro area for pedestrians in the country.
Jane Nelson - Florida Department
of Health in Polk County Over the last year 145 people lost their lives to traffic crashes in Polk County,
Mianne Nelson - Polk County BoCC and these tragedies continue to have heartbreaking and long-lasting effects on
Angelo Rao - City of Lakeland families, friends and our community.
Lauren Shinholster - All Children’s
Hospital, Safe Routes to School
Bill Skelton - Polk County BoCC
Donna Swygert - Stand Up Polk
Ed Trail - City of Haines City
Todd Vargo - City of Lakeland
The Polk Vision Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Team is working on tackling this
serious issue through the creation and implementation of a multi-pronged
strategic plan focused on engineering, education, and law enforcement. Every
driver, passenger, pedestrian and bicyclist is someone’s loved one and everyone
wants to come home safely.
As a bicycle commuter, an avid recreational bicyclist and a runner, it was a bit upsetting to
learn the number of vehicular collisions in Polk County involving pedestrians and bicyclists.
I am thankful that Polk Vision decided to create a Ped/Bike Safety Team. The individuals I
have met over the past five months via our team meetings have shown me that Polk County
has a number of resources that could be tapped and coordinated to address this issue.”
Mary Crowe, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Experiential Education, Florida Southern College
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Bicycles & Pedestrian Safety
Vital to quality of life is the ability to work
together, learn from each other, and help
each other grow.”
— Stephen Covey
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