Pedestrians

Inherent risks such as a child's size and cognitive ability, and environmental risks such as speeding motorists, are numerous -- that's why prevention measures are so important. You can reduce your children's risk of harm by modeling and teaching safe pedestrian behavior. You can also join groups like SAFE KIDS in advocating for safer pedestrian environments across your community.

A 7-year-old darts into the street after an escaping ball. At dusk, a driver fails to see his pre-teen neighbor playing street hockey. A toddler squirms from her father's grasp and runs behind a backing car. These are a few of the all-too-common scenarios that can lead to pedestrian injury. How common? An estimated 25,000 children are injured in pedestrian incidents involving motor vehicles every year.

Worse, child pedestrian injuries are frequently serious or deadly. Between 25 and 50 percent of them require hospital admission, and in 1998 more than 700 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries. Despite recent declines, pedestrian injury remains one of the leading causes of unintentional injury-related death among children.

On this Page:

• Why Kids Are at Risk
• Other Risk Factors
• Protecting Your Family
• Teach your Child Safety
• Protecting Communities
• If a Child Gets Hit by a Car
• What SAFE KIDS is Doing
• How You Can Help
• Frequently Asked Questions

• Young children believe if they can see a driver, a driver can see them.
• They think cars can stop instantly.
• They can't tell where sounds come from.
• Few can judge how fast traffic is moving.
• Their field of vision is one-third that of adults.
• They don't recognize danger or react to it.
• Very young children see cars as friendly, living creatures.

Children should learn street safety as soon as they are ready to walk outdoors. But they need your help.

STOP at the curb or edge of the road.

NEVER run into a street.

LISTEN and LOOK for traffic to the left, to the right and to the left again. (Teach children who don't know left from right to look "this way," "that way," and "this way.")

WAIT until the street is clear.

KEEP LOOKING until you've crossed the street safely.

• Children have difficulty judging how fast cars are moving, how far away they are and which direction traffic sounds are coming from.
• Young children often have mistaken beliefs about cars. They think cars can stop instantly, or that if they can see a driver, the driver can see them.
• In general, children have trouble recognizing and reacting to danger. Children ages 5 to 9 are at greatest risk of traffic-related pedestrian death and injury. In many instances, parents overestimate their children's pedestrian skills. Most children are struck in streets or driveways near their homes when darting out between parked cars, walking along the edge of the road, or crossing in the middle of the block or in front of a turning car.

Children, ages 5 to 9, are at highest risk of being hit by a car. Why? They "dart out" into traffic.

• Childhood pedestrian injuries occur most often in residential areas and on local roads that are straight, paved and dry.
• In 1999, nearly half of child pedestrian deaths occurred in the late afternoon and early evening. Most occurred in the middle of a block or at other non-intersection locations.
• Young children are at increased risk of pedestrian death and injury in driveways. More than half of all toddler pedestrian injuries occur when a vehicle is backing up.
• For all age groups, traffic-related pedestrian death is twice as likely in cities as in the country; the reverse is true of pedestrian deaths not involving traffic.
   
• High traffic volume, a high number of parked vehicles on the street, higher posted speed limits, absence of a divided highway and few pedestrian control devices such as crosswalks are all factors that increase the likelihood of pedestrian injury

Protecting Your Family:


Your children want to grow up to be just like you. They imitate the way you talk, the way you perform everyday household tasks, and ? that's right ? even the way you walk. The most important thing you can do to teach your kids safe pedestrian behavior is to practice it yourself: crossing streets at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks whenever possible, and making eye contact with drivers prior to crossing in front of them.

• Childhood pedestrian injuries occur most often in residential areas and on local roads that are straight, paved and dry.

Here are some other ways to keep your children safe:


Set limits:

• Don't allow a child under age 10 to cross streets alone. Adult supervision is vital until your child demonstrates traffic skills and judgment.
• Require children to carry a flashlight at night, dawn and dusk. Add retroreflective materials to children's clothing.
• Prohibit play in driveways, unfenced yards, streets or parking lots.
• Make sure your children take the same route to common destinations (such as school) every time. Walk with your child to find the safest path. Look for the most direct route with the fewest street crossings.

• Look left -- right -- and left again before crossing the street. Cross when the street is clear, and keep looking both ways while crossing. Walk, don't run.
• Understand and obey traffic signals and signs.
• Cross at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks when available. Do not enter the street from between parked cars or behind bushes or shrubs.
• Stop at the curb, or at the edge of the road if there is no curb, before crossing the street. Never run into a street without stopping - even for a ball, pet or any other reason. Darting into the street accounts for the majority of child pedestrian fatalities.
• Walk facing traffic, on sidewalks or paths. Walk as far to the left as possible if there are no sidewalks.
• Watch for cars that are turning or backing up.

1. USE sidewalks.
2. KEEP to the left and walk facing traffic where there are no sidewalks.
3. BE seen at night. Trim clothing with materials that reflect light. "Retro-reflective" tape is an excellent choice. It's not expensive and available at fabric, sporting goods, and hardware stores.
    

If a Child Gets Hit by a Car:

1. Stay calm. Keep the child calm.
2. Get help or send a bystander. Call "9-1-1," your rescue squad, or "0" (zero) for Operator.
3. Do not move the child or /let the chi/d move (unless there is risk of more danger).
4. Check for breathing. (Enroll in a class on first aid to learn rescue breathing. It could be the difference between life and death.)
5. Stop bleeding. Press down on wounds with your hand or clothing.
6. Cover the child.
    

SAFE KIDS coalitions have long educated parents and their children about safe pedestrian skills. Through a partnership with FedEx Express, SAFE KIDS recently launched a comprehensive initiative focusing on pedestrian safety and driver behavior, the SAFE KIDS Walk this Way program. SAFE KIDS coalitions are partnering with FedEx employees to assess the safety of streets kids must navigate in their own communities. They have evaluated speeding in school zones as a "snapshot" of speeding wherever children live and play. They have hosted fun, school-based safety events to teach kids about pedestrian safety. Most importantly, along with other parents and concerned community groups, SAFE KIDS coalitions have formed task forces to identify specific pedestrian safety problems and seek long-term solutions.
 

How you can help: 

• Environmental modifications make a difference. Advocate for more pedestrian bridges, street lights, playgrounds, sidewalks, paths and trails, and make our communities more walkable for children.
   
• Advocate for funds dedicated to safer walking environments at the federal, state and local levels.
   
• Advocate for state and local laws that help parents keep their children safe by setting lower speed limits in residential areas, protecting pedestrians in crosswalks, providing for pedestrian walkways, prohibiting vehicles from passing school buses while loading and unloading passengers, etc. Tough enforcement of traffic laws and assessment of high penalties are proven strategies to reduce pedestrian death and injury
   

Frequently Asked Questions: 

1. At what age can my child cross the street alone?
   
   Generally, children ages 10 and over can cross streets safely without the close supervision of an adult. Children ages 5 to 9 are at greatest risk for pedestrian-related deaths and injuries. Parents often overestimate their children's pedestrian skills. Children are impulsive and have difficulty judging speed, spatial relations, distance and velocity. They frequently do not have the cognitive development and behavioral capacity to react to complicated traffic situations, such as intersections.
   
    
2. What should my child wear to be most visible to drivers in the rain and at low-light situations, including dusk and dawn?
   
   Children should always wear clothing, accessories, and/or footwear that incorporate retroreflective materials so that they can be seen by motorists.
   
   Here's a science lesson for you! Retroreflective material permits a large amount of reflected light (such as a vehicle headlight) to return directly or "bounce back" to its original light source (the driver). Wearing clothing that incorporates retroreflective material makes that portion of the clothing 1,500 times brighter than white clothing. Since very little light is scattered, retroreflective material appears brightest to an observer near the original light source, such as a vehicle's headlights.