The coming school year is upon us, and drivers must heighten their awareness on the road. Children, with their unpredictability and lack of visibility, are extremely likely to be victims of car accidents. In this blog, tips promoting student pedestrian safety will be discussed. Drivers and student pedestrians alike must endeavor to heed these safety tips the best that they can.
Back To School Safety Tips Adults Must Instill On Young Students
Pedestrian Safety
Children are among the most vulnerable pedestrian groups on the road due to their small size and general lack of awareness. If the school is walking distance from your place, make sure that you are walking them to school to help ensure that they are safe. If your child is independent enough to take themselves to school, urge them to wear brightly colored clothing. That way, they are more visible to drivers. In addition, instill in them the importance of situational awareness.
Instruct them to be constantly aware of their surroundings so as to not find themselves struck by heavy metal weighing thousands of pounds. As children are generally more tech-savvy, they may have a tendency to be on their phone as they are walking. Refrain them from doing so.
Biking Safety
Children and teenagers alike may feel compelled to ride their bikes to school. But bike riding presents a sleuth of dangers for this demographic. Drivers on the road, especially those in urban areas, have a tendency to be unpredictable. A lot of them will do sudden maneuvers and drive past the speed limit even in school zones. While a lot of the responsibility falls on car drivers, it doesn’t hurt for young bike riders to engage in some preventative measures to avoid getting hurt on their way to school.
In the spirit of promoting situational awareness, it is important for them to be on the lookout for any possible dangers on the road. Young bicyclists must watch out for road signs as well as be wary of any signals from other vehicles. This means: don’t listen to music and use phones while biking.
School Bus Safety
Riding the school bus, in general, is fairly safe for children. Its huge size and heavy weight protect them from any external force that may come their way in the event of an accident. Although school bus accidents are rare, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that a lot of bus fatalities involving children occur as soon as they approach or leave the bus. Children stepping out of the bus may be sideswiped by reckless drivers who are not cognizant of their presence on the road.
In order to prevent this from happening, the youth must once again practice situational awareness. Before they approach or step out of the bus, they need to look both directions of the road to make sure that there are no incoming cars.
Role of Role Models: Impact on Safety
Children look to authority figures for guidance on how they should behave. They’re generally impressionable and are easily influenced. Knowing this, adults who care for children must endeavor to be a good role model to them. In general, it is good practice to be situationally aware but it is especially important to do this in the presence of children. Once they see you become reckless pedestrians, they’re very much likely to follow suit.
This puts them in grave danger because as previously discussed, the sheer size of children and their unpredictability puts them among the most vulnerable pedestrian groups on the road.
Back To School Safety Tips For Drivers
Speeding and School Zones
Low speed limits on school zones are set up for a good reason: children are extremely vulnerable to fatal car accidents. Resist the urge to drive quickly and be considerate of the young students who are just trying to get to school. Recent developments in Los Angeles have been made to prevent fatalities in school zones, per City News Service.
School zones by default are set to 25 mph, but a new California law will allow local authorities to set a lower speed limit if they see it fit. While this could be perceived as a nuisance for reckless drivers, this legislative reform is a win for student pedestrian safety.
Distracted Driving and School Safety
Distracted driving is a plague to school safety. While there is a tendency for seasoned drivers to engage in reckless behaviors, they must especially refrain from succumbing to them in school zones. Remember: children are one of the most vulnerable pedestrian groups on the road.
Distracted driving behaviors of any kind —daydreaming, rubbernecking, and especially texting and driving — endanger the lives of children. They could acquire catastrophic injuries like traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, etc. Or worse, wrongful death.
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