CINCINNATI — Local leaders joined a class of sixth graders Thursday for a pizza party to celebrate winning the City of Cincinnati's Slow Down to Save Lives slogan contest.
The contest launched back in the spring, with the goal of encouraging drivers to slow down and pay attention to pedestrians.
It came as pedestrian crashes have been trending down, but to city leaders, the number is still too high.
According to city data, there were 305 pedestrian-involved crashes in 2021, 270 in 2022 and 210 so far this year.
For these students, the issue is personal because of an experience they had in second grade at the Hyde Park School.
“We were over at the Eagle Bank with classrooms and I would have to go there every day," said Natalia Lastra, winner of the slogan contest. "I was behind the class when it happened. Apparently, they were walking across the street and some driver wasn’t paying attention and they were so close to hitting somebody.”
With that in mind, towards the end of last school year, another student in the class suggested everyone submit something for the slogan contest.
“The fact that they’re doing something that has real meaning to them because they had had this experience in second grade, I think really motivated them to work together," said their teacher, Kate Fischer.
One of the slogans her class came up with, and the one Lastra used in the video she submitted for the contest, was the acronym STOP. It stands for stop, think, observe, pedestrians.
“We were just thinking, what could we use to have one of those slogans? And they were like, maybe we could break it up into stop," she said.
When Lastra's contest entry won, she and some of her classmates got to be in a PSA produced by WCPO and won a pizza party. Lastra also won $500 and said she wants to donate some of that money to a local animal shelter.
She also said she hopes the slogan will make a difference.
