Campaign focuses on safety whether on foot, bike or road

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Mayor Rick Meehan and Police Chief Ross Buzzuro, took turns at the rostrum to beseech visitors and residents to “Walk Smart, Drive Smart, Bike Smart” this summer.

The cartoon character nature of Cheswick notwithstanding, the campaign is serious business for the State Highway Administration and the city, which, as SHA Administrator Tim Smith told the gathering, becomes the state’s second largest population center during the travel season.

“Hundreds of thousands of visitors ... will be walking and biking along Coastal Highway,” Smith said. “It’s up to all of us to ensure that they get to and from their destination safely.”

To emphasize that — and to create a photo opportunity — Cheswick led an entourage of highway safety officials, police and local officeholders across Coastal Highway at 21st Street.

If there was any irony in that exer- cise it was that Cheswick had to be led to and from the highway by Smith and Motor Vehicle Administration boss Chrissy Nizer because the costume’s limited visibility makes it impossible for its wearer to look both ways before crossing.

Enhanced awareness is, after all, the chief component of what has become a much bigger campaign. Smith said the city and state intend to spread the safety message via billboards, aerial banners, print media, social media and radio. And, although the campaign focused almost exclusively on pedestrians when it began in 2013 and today’s Cheswick was a nameless crab lifeguard cartoon, it now encompasses bicycling and driving, hence, “Walk Smart, Drive Smart, Bike Smart.” Cheswick did not become “Cheswick” until 2017, when it was named as a tribute to Matthew Cheswick, 22, a Towson University student who was struck and killed by a drunken driver while walking along Coastal Highway in 2012. That tragedy and a rash of other serious incidents that summer led to the creation of the state/local Walk Smart program the following year.

“Our partnerships with State Highway Administration and the Town of Ocean City are vital as we continue to spread the message of safe driving, walking and biking this summer,” said Nizer, who also serves as Gov. Wes Moore’s highway safety representative. “Road safety is a shared responsibility to ensure everyone makes it to their destination safely. Follow the rules of the road, avoid distractions and make a plan for a sober ride home.”