Aug 07 2008
Teaching children about pedestrian safety - over and over again - can save their lives
(NC)—Spring and summer mean more than flowers, rain showers, vacation and relaxation. The warm weather also brings a little known fact and an unwelcome reality: more child-pedestrian injuries and deaths than any other time of year. Walking is a child’s first means of independent transportation and often the most accessible, yet child-pedestrian incidents are a leading cause of injury-related death for Canadian children under the age of 14. A staggering 2,412 child pedestrians are injured each year and approximately 30 are killed, usually crossing the street at an intersection within 5 kilometres of their home.
According to Safe Kids Canada, most parents report teaching their children pedestrian safety, but a study of more than 700 parents found that only 16 per cent of parents knew basic pedestrian safety facts. In addition, if they have correct knowledge, parents and caregivers don’t always practice what they know. It’s important to know the rules of the road, set a good example and reinforce safe behaviour with your child over and over again.
Bottom line: Walk with your children and teach them the pedestrian safety rules every single time. Safety education should be repeated every time parents / caregivers and children are walking together and should start before the child reaches age nine and continue into their adolescence.
• Look left, look straight into the intersection, look right, and repeat before crossing the street.
• Cross at the intersection.
• Watch for drivers because parked cars can block them from a driver’s view.
• Practice making street-crossing decisions on their own, but with you there giving them much-needed practical experience.
• Weather conditions are different (i.e. snow, fog, sleet, rain).
• Taking a new route.
• In a variety of road situations.
• When it’s their first time walking alone.
These tips are part of the 2008 Safe Kids Week campaign - Safe Roads, Safe Kids - running from May 26 - June 1 and sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. More information on child-pedestrian safety is available from
Safe Kids Canada at 1-888-SAFE-TIPS (723-3847) or online at www.safekidscanada.ca.
-News Canada
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