About Basic Street Safety for Children

Pedestrian accidents are known to have seriously injured or killed many people, despite only accounting to around 13 percent of all motor vehicle accidents every year. In terms of age group, though, children are highly at risk.

This trend, however, seemed to have declined. In 1975, children ages 0 to 12 had the third highest rate; come 2010, the rate was at its lowest, with a decrease of about 89 percent.

Basically, young pedestrians are not that adept when it comes to crossing the road or even just walking on the sidewalk. They don’t perceive certain attributes such as distance, speed, and noise direction. This is why it is always important for adults to accompany their children every time they are traveling on foot, especially in the urban setting.

Accordingly, it is the adults’ responsibility of not only accompanying them around, but also teaching them basic street safety. Once they’ve learned how to cross the road and deal with vehicles safely, then they can walk the streets safely all by their lonesome in the near future.

As such, here are some ways on how adults can teach their children basic street safety:

·         Adults must explain to their children the importance of paying attention while walking alongside vehicles. Road hazards, for one, might endanger their lives, particularly crossing pedestrians and speeding vehicles.

·         Adults must act as role models, especially when around children. Not only must they instruct the kids the proper rules of crossing the street, but also act the whole thing out to serve as a guide for the children. Constant practice would mean that they are able to cross to street the safest way possible without supervision.

·         Adults must stress the importance of “stopping, looking, and listening” before crossing the street. They should also lend a helping hand to the kids in locating pedestrian lights; that would give them the signal on when to walk or not to walk in a certain period of time.

Incidentally, expert litigators such as the Los Angeles pedestrian accident lawyer agree that adults are capable of instilling to their children the importance of basic street safety.