Sunday, May 06, 2007

Warm weather means more kids outside

As the clouds dry up and the weather gets warmer there are more kids playing outside. In the last month or so there have been about 1/2 a dozen kids who were hit by cars.
We are asking the public to slow down and pay a bit of extra attention to what's going on around the side of the roads, if there is a school or park zone, or yards and sidewalks with kids, be aware someone could run out, or even trip in front of your car.

While we hope you'll all slow down, the best bet for kids to be safe is for them to have great traffic knowledge and pedestrian safety skills.

1) First and foremost is to teach our kids not to go out into the road to chase after anything, not a ball, or even a pet.

2) While walking or approaching a crosswalk or edge of the road, it's a good idea not to horse around, ride bikes, skateboards scooters etc (dismount while waiting and crossing the road). It wouldn't be all that hard to hit a piece of uneven pavement or a curb and trip into the path of a car.

3) Walk facing the direction of traffic, if a car is coming too fast or being driven erratically the chances to get out of the way are higher if you can see it coming.

With blind spots in cars or people coming out between two cars and not seeing oncoming cars or being seen by the drivers, it's a recipe for disaster, and if that care is speeding it could greatly increase the seriousness of potential injuries.