Pedestrian hazards exist in just about every neighborhood, school zone and commercial district in metro Atlanta. They will receive attention only after people throughout the region report them. To give your letter its greatest impact, follow these rules.
- Write to the appropriate person.
Check with your local government or with PEDS to find out who makes decisions on the issue that concerns you. Address your letter to the decision maker, not to PEDS, and list PEDS as a recipient of a courtesy copy. (Our Take Action reports do this for you automatically!)
- Send a copy to your elected representative(s).
Sending copies to city council members, county commissioners, and mayors helps ensure that staff members in the Police, Planning, or Public Works departments take your issue seriously. Search for your local officials (county and city representatives) here.
- Focus on a single subject.
Take a lesson from business: sell only one idea at a time. Doing more confuses the customer. For example, if your street has both broken sidewalks and conflicts between pedestrians and right-turning cars at traffic signals, write a letter requesting that Public Works repair the sidewalks. Then, in a separate letter, ask the traffic engineers to re-time the traffic signal.
- Keep it brief.
Letters should be one page or less.
- Recommend a solution.
Decision makers aren’t persuaded by whining and complaining. If you're reporting a problem, go on to explain what actions you want the person to take. (Our Take Action pages help you consider solutions!)
- Get personal.
Explain how the problem impacts you or your family directly. Hand-written letters and letters that are personalized receive far more attention from elected officials than petitions, form letters.
- Send hard copies.
Elected officials pay far more attention to letters they receive in their office than to e-mails. Take the time to send hand-written or typed letters.
- Follow up.
Be persistent. If you don't hear back within two weeks, give the official a telephone call. If the official promises a change, call or fax as frequently as needed until it gets done. (When you report a hazard using our Take Action page, we give you the transportation official’s contact information!)
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