Welcome to Safe Kids Oregon!
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
Back to school time was one of my favorite times of the year as a kid. A new teacher, different classmates, a new desk, sometimes a new school. It was like a fresh start.
With all these changes, back to school can be a good time to remind your kids how to walk safely. Whether they’re walking to the bus stop, walking in the parking lot, or walking the entire way to school, all kids are a pedestrian at some point during the school day.
Which leads to this alarming statistic: Every day 44 kids are hit by a car while walking in the United States. That’s 16,000 kids hurt every year.
Interactive Infographic
Safe Kids and FedEx are teaming up to help change this number and keep kids safe on the road as they head back to school.
We’ve created an interactive infographic that demonstrates the common ways kids get hit by cars and the tips to avoid getting hit.
Before your child walks out the door and heads off to the new school year, take five minutes to go over this infographic. It will teach your child how to safely cross the street, and it’s a great reminder for parents, too.
Whether your kids are walking to school, the park or a friend’s house, here are a few simple tips to make sure they get there safely.
The Hard Facts
Unintentional pedestrian injuries are the fifth leading cause of injury-related death in the United States for children ages 5 to 19. Teenagers are now at greatest risk. Teens have a death rate twice that of younger children and account for half of all child pedestrian deaths.
Top Tips
- Teach kids at an early age to look left, right and left again before crossing the street. Then remind them to continue looking until safely across.
- Teach kids to put phones, headphones and devices down when crossing the street. It is particularly important to reinforce this message with teenagers.
- It’s always best to walk on sidewalks or paths and cross at street corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible.
- Children under 10 need to cross the street with an adult. Every child is different, but developmentally, most kids are unable to judge the speed and distance of oncoming cars until age 10.
- Be a good role model. Set a good example by putting your phone, headphones and devices down when walking around cars.
Play a Part in Safety
Join in and help teach kids how to be safe while walking. We’ve created some posters that you can use in your community or your child’s school to help spread awareness of common ways kids get hit by cars.
Learn More
Here are a few more tips on how to keep kids safe while on foot, and check out this infographic:
Safe Kids Oregon works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Safe Kids Oregon is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. Safe Kids Oregon was founded in 1995 and is proudly led by Oregon Child Development Coalition.