Pedestrian Safety: Protect Your Child from Pedestrian Injuries

Supervise young children. Do not allow young children to play unsupervised near a street or driveway.

Do not allow children to play in the street. Playing in the street, even a neighborhood street that is not busy, is not safe. Do not allow children on wheels ¬ skateboards, scooters, roller blades, bicycles, wheelchairs - to enter a street from a driveway, especially a sloping driveway. This rule applies to children on sleds or snowboards. Teach children never to dart out into the street after a ball or a pet.

Teach children safety rules for walking. Cross streets in a straight line at the corner or in crosswalks. Never enter the street between parked cars. Obey traffic signals. Look left-right-left before crossing the street and continue checking as you cross. Walk on sidewalks where possible. On a road with no sidewalk, walk facing oncoming traffic. Wear light-colored clothing or reflective clothing on dark days or at nighttime.

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Information about Pedestrian Safety was graciously shared by Dr. Patricia Keener, author of Caring for Kids: Useful Information & Hard-to-find Facts About Child Health and Development , and Riley Hospital for Children.