School Zone Safety

Pedestrian Safety

A Safe Route to School

Children need safe routes to school. This means a route with slower traffic, more crosswalks and crossing guards, and more sidewalks with wider surfaces and unobstructed views. In fact, routes that are safe for children benefit everyone in the community, especially disabled and elderly pedestrians.

Crossing the Street

Children need to learn traffic safety rules at an early age. Parents should teach their children to follow these steps whenever they cross the street:

• Cross at an intersection or crosswalk, if available.
• Stop at the curb, the edge of the road, or the corner before proceeding. Look left, then right, then left again for traffic in all directions. If you see a car, wait until it goes by. Then look left, right, left again.
• When no cars are coming, walk – do not run – across the road. Keep looking for cars when you are crossing.
• If a car is parked where you are crossing, look to make sure there is no driver and that the car is not running. Then go to the edge of the car and look left-right-left to see if cars are coming.
• At intersections with traffic lights, watch for turning cars and obey all traffic signals. Wait until you see the WALK signal and the green traffic light, then follow the basic rules for crossing. (The WALK signal and the green light mean that it’s your turn to cross the street, but they do not mean it is SAFE to cross. You need to LOOK, and then go if no traffic is coming your way.)
• A flashing DON’T WALK signal means you shouldn’t start to cross the street. However, if you have already started crossing when it begins flashing, continue walking. The timing mechanism in the signal device allows you time to cross before it changes to a steady DON’T WALK signal.
• If you see a steady DON’T WALK signal, don’t begin to cross the street! Wait for the next WALK signal.
• Walk on the sidewalk if there is one. If there is no sidewalk and you have to walk on the road, be sure to walk facing traffic so you can see what’s coming.
• If you must walk through parked traffic, stop and look carefully for vehicles backing up and listen for drivers starting their cars before stepping out from between vehicles. Don’t run between parked cars and buses. Don’t run across the street or through a parking lot.

Be Seen, Be Safe

Children are less visible to drivers because they are smaller than other pedestrians. Wearing brightly colored clothing is one way to make it easier for drivers to see young pedestrians during the day. After dark, children should carry a flashlight or wear special reflective material on their shoes, clothing, or book bags. It is also important to stop, look, and listen before crossing the road at night.

Parents and Motorists Can Help

Parents and motorists have a responsibility to help ensure the safety of child pedestrians. It is important to keep in mind that children are not small adults. Until they are at least 10 or 11 years old, children don’t have the skills to handle traffic. Because they are short, it is difficult for children to see motorists or for motorists to see them. Because their peripheral vision is approximately one-third narrower than an adult’s, children can’t see a motorist approaching from the right or left as soon as an adult can. Children also have difficulty judging a car’s speed and distance, and they often think that if they can see the driver, the driver can see them. Parents or other responsible caregivers must supervise children at all times. They must teach children how to cross the street safely, and they must always set a good example when crossing the street with children. Drivers should observe speed limits at all times, but especially around children. When driving in school zones, near playgrounds, or in neighborhoods where children might be playing, motorists should always expect a child to dart out into the roadway. When turning left at a green light or making a right turn on red, drivers need to look for pedestrians as well as cars. Pedestrians always have the right of way in these situations.

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