News room
For Immediate Use |
Contact: Jennifer Bonchak |
Tar Heel Bus Tour makes a stop in Hendersonville to focus on creating a safer and more walkable community through the Walk Wise, Drive Smart program
(CHAPEL HILL, NC) — The Tar Heel Bus Tour is making a stop in Hendersonville, North Carolina on Wednesday to introduce faculty to the challenges of an aging community and to learn what can be done to encourage safer and more walkable communities through partnerships such as the Walk Wise, Drive Smart program.
Walk Wise, Drive Smart is a community-based pedestrian safety program working to build community support for and awareness of senior-pedestrian safety issues. Funded by the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Walk Wise, Drive Smart is coordinated by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center in partnership with the School of Medicine's Center for Aging and Health, the North Carolina Healthy Aging Research Network and the community of Hendersonville.
"We're very pleased that the Walk Wise, Drive Smart program has been chosen as part of the latest Tar Heel Bus Tour," said Bill Hunter, senior research scientist, UNC Highway Safety Research Center. "Improving the pedestrian environment in Hendersonville will not only benefit this community, but can be a model for other communities across the state and the country, especially those with growing numbers of older adults."
With more than 31 percent of Hendersonville�s population age 65 and above, community and university partners have worked since 2000 to make Hendersonville more accommodating to its older adult population. The latest initiative, Walk Wise Drive Smart, includes educational workshops and a series of walking audits of Hendersonville neighborhoods; gathers extensive community feedback through surveys and interviews; and identifies elements needed to implement a pedestrian safety plan that is responsive to Hendersonville's needs.
Following a discussion of the project with community members and UNC representatives, bus tour participants will have the chance to walk a newly opened Walk Wise Drive Smart route.
The current Tar Heel Bus Tour extends from Monday, May 12 – Friday, May 16.
For more information on the UNC Highway Safety Research Center and the Walk Wise Drive Smart program, please visit www.walk-wise.org and www.hsrc.unc.edu, or call Jennifer Bonchak at 919-843-4859.
For more information on the Tar Heel Bus Tour, please visit www.unc.edu/bustour/, or call Linda Douglas at 919-218-6947.
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