KDHE Home - News 2001 - News Release

Kansas
Department of Health & Environment
Bill Graves, Governor
Clyde D. Graeber, Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 26, 2001

Contact: Jan Stegelman,  785-296-1223

Oct. 2 is Kansas SAFE KIDS Walk Your Child To School Day

Kansas children will have an opportunity to participate in a very special walk to school when Kansas schools and community groups celebrate Kansas Walk Your Child To School Day on Tuesday, October 2, 2001. The Kansas event is sponsored by the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition and is part of International Walk To School Day. The event was planned as a way to encourage parents to teach children about pedestrian safety and become aware of difficulties and dangers children face on their trip to school each day.

"School age children are particularly vulnerable to getting hit by cars because they have difficulty judging the speed and distance of oncoming cars. Children need to learn how to walk to school safely, and parents need to teach and review important safety guidelines with their children. What better way to do this than to walk your child to school? " said Jan Stegelman of the Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition. "By walking children to school, you can also determine how safe their route is for walking and where improvements can be made."

Unfortunately, pedestrian injuries are the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14. In 1998, nearly 730 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian injuries and in 1999, an estimated 25,000 children ages 14 and under suffered motor-vehicle-related pedestrian injuries. A recent national survey of driver speeds found that two-thirds of drivers exceeded the posted speed limit during the before- and after-school hours.

As part of this special event, children and parents will receive tips on how to choose a safe walking route, pedestrian safety tips, and a Walkability Survey which helps parents to determine how safe their child’s route to school is. Participating children will also receive reflective shoelace tags.

"Even if your community or school is not participating in this special statewide event, you can walk your child to and/or from school sometime during that week,"said Stegelman. Additional information for parents is available at www.safekids.org and www.walktoschool-usa.org.

The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition recommends that children under 10 never cross the street alone. Parents and care givers can use the following guidelines to teach their children about walking to school safely.

• Choose the safest route and walk it with children. Look for the most direct route with the fewest street crossings. Walk the route with children until they demonstrate traffic safety awareness. They should take the same route every day and avoid shortcuts.
• Teach children to recognize and obey all traffic signals and markings. A flashing "walk" sign is not an automatic "go" signal. It means a pedestrian has permission to cross, but must first stop and look both ways for cars.
• Make sure children look in all directions before crossing the street. Teach them to stop at the curb or edge of the road, and to look left, right and left again for traffic before and while crossing the street.
• Teach children not to enter the street from between parked cars or from behind bushes or shrubs. Darting into the street accounts for the majority of child pedestrian fatalities.
• Teach children to cross the street at a corner or crosswalk. Make sure children allow plenty of time to cross. Teach them to walk, not run, across intersections. Tell children to listen to adult crossing guards or safety patrols at monitored intersections.
• Children should always wear retro reflective clothing or shoes and carry a flashlight if walking at dawn or dusk. Nearly half of child pedestrian deaths occur between 4 and 8 p.m.
• Warn children to be extra alert in bad weather. Visibility might be poor and motorists might not be able to see them or stop quickly.
• Demonstrate proper pedestrian safety by being a good role model. Parents, care givers and older peers should set good examples for younger children. Children need you to not only tell them, but also show them how to be safe pedestrians. If there are older children in your home or neighborhood, express to them how important it is to be good role models.

The Kansas SAFE KIDS Coalition, Inc. is a nonprofit group of 67 statewide organizations and businesses that have joined to protect Kansas children from unintentional injury -- the leading killer of Kansas kids. Local coalitions and chapters are located in Anderson, Barber, Clay, Ford, Johnson, Marion, Montgomery, Osage, Pottawatomie, and Shawnee Counties, as well as Hutchinson, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Manhattan, Norton, Salina, and Wichita. Kansas SAFE KIDS is part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.