The Overlooked Avenue of Pedestrian Safety

Paying attention to pedestrian safety is essential because everyone is a pedestrian at one point. The word comes from the Latin ped, which means foot. Obviously, this makes sense because a pedestrian is one who walks on foot—amidst traffic.

Typically, one becomes a pedestrian while making trip to the store, having a nice walk to a coffee house, or assuring their kid arrives safety, crossing the street together, safe hand n’ hand. The practice is so routine to us that we fail to realize that we are imperiled immensely every time we step on the street and traverse traffic. Indeed, drivers in cars can become careless and so can pedestrians, trusting too much in their fellow citizen.

An ugly fact is that unintentional pedestrian injuries are one of the primary causes of injury related fatalities in the United States for children between ages 5 and 19. Surprisingly, teenagers are at the greatest risk, dying at twice the rate of their younger counterparts. Maybe this is due to the fact that teenagers are consumed with a world existing in their smart phone, and thus, are oblivious to the actual physical world around them.

Speaking with your Children about Pedestrian Safety

When it comes to informing your children about pedestrian safety, compromise is not an option. Tell them that it is never ok to cross the street while operating a smart phone.

For your younger, simpler children, not yet introduced to the world of digital media, make sure you alert them that they should only cross at a cross walk and pay full attention when doing so. Younger children between the ages of 5-7 should never cross the street unless accompanied by an adult. Generally, children’s depth perception and motor skills are underdeveloped at this point. Avoiding immense projectiles weight more than a ton and traveling at 60 MPH makes complete sense.