OCEAN CITY, Md. - The streets and crosswalks were mainly empty in Ocean City on Thursday.

But that is going to change quickly in the coming weeks as the town's population swells to the second-largest in Maryland over the summer.

Thursday morning, folks on the Boardwalk got to meet Cheswick the Crab. For 10 years, she has been sharing her message to "Walk Smart, Bike Smart, and Drive Smart" on the streets and sidewalks of Ocean City.

That message will be seen on city buses, billboards, and posters all over town. Folks working in Ocean City say Cheswick's message is working.

"I have seen improvement. It used to be kind of a wild west thing going on here," said Chris Cole, who has worked in Ocean City for nine years. "But it has gotten a little better. People are a little more cognizant of their surroundings. But we can always improve, right?"

And improvement is the goal. While Cheswick's message is being heeded by some, David Frieman, who has worked in Ocean City for over 15 years, says more folks need to hear it.

"Early in the morning, I noticed, man, people do come flying up and down this road," Frieman said as he pointed to the crosswalk he uses on Baltimore Avenue. "You've got to be very careful. I kind of had to jump out of the way of a school bus this morning because it seems like they were going a little faster than I thought they should have been."

Another Ocean City neighbor think some roadway improvements could boost safety.

"So if they was to actually introduce bike lanes, then I think where they could actually see the lines in the street, then I think that would be actually a lot better," said Desiree Denmark, who has worked in Ocean City for five years.

Cheswick has been bringing her message promoting safety to Ocean City since 2013. Cheswick is named after Matthew Cheswick, a young pedestrian killed while crossing highway in 2012.

In 2022, Ocean City saw its lowest number of traffic and bicycle collisions in five years. However, there's much more to be done: 2022 saw the highest number of pedestrian collisions in the same time frame.