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Teaching Pedestrian Safety to Your Kids

By Joseph Low on October 15, 2015

school zone crosswalk safety sign

Anyone raising children in southern California wants them to stay safe while they explore and learn more about their world. In many communities, this includes allowing kids to walk to school, friends’ houses, the local park, or the store as they get older and want to explore.

Unfortunately, walking on California streets and sidewalks isn’t always safe.  The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) notes the rate of pedestrian deaths has increased in the past several years. Fatal pedestrian accidents jumped 6.9 percent between 2012 and 2013, claiming more than 700 lives in 2013 alone.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a pedestrian dies in an accident in the United States every two hours.

How can you help protect the children you care about?  Here are some tips for teaching kids to walk safely:

Stay visible.

Choose brightly-colored shirts and jackets, and include reflective strips. These help kids stand out so that drivers can see them better.

Follow the rules.

Teach kids that they should only cross streets at crosswalks, and only when the light lets them cross. Never cross the street in the middle of traffic, and never by stepping out from between parked cars. Besides watching the light, always check that traffic is slowing down and stopping before stepping into the crosswalk.

Walk in the safest place you can.

If there’s a sidewalk, always use it. If not, walk on the shoulder of the road, facing traffic.

If someone you love is killed in a pedestrian accident, don’t wait to get legal help. Contact The Law Firm of Joseph H. Low IV to learn more about how to protect your family’s legal rights.

Contact us today at (888) 454-5569.

Sources: http://www.ots.ca.gov/OTS_and_Traffic_Safety/Score_Card.asp , http://www.cdc.gov/Features/PedestrianSafety/

Posted in: Personal Injury


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