Walking Safely to School
Walking is school is a fun and healthy way to spend time with your child. When it comes to walking to school, you are your child’s most important role model for walking safely. Children learn by watching others, so your own safe pedestrian behavior is the best way to teach these valuable skills. Consider these tips as you walk with your child:
- Obey all traffic signs and signals.
- Choose routes that provide space to walk and have the least amount of traffic and lowest speeds.
- Look for traffic at all driveways and intersections.
- If possible, cross at a crosswalk or at an intersection with a walk signal.
- Stop at the curb and look for traffic in all directions (left, right, left, to the front and behind). At an intersection, it is important to look in front and in back to check for turning vehicles. The second look to the left is to re-check for traffic that is closest to you.
- Wait until no traffic is coming and start crossing; keep looking for traffic as you cross the road.
- Walk across the road. Do not run.
- Wear reflective gear if it is dark or conditions limit visibility, such as rain or snow.
- Talk with your child about what you’re doing and why as you walk. Although you might be able to see quickly that it is safe to cross the road or make other decisions while walking, your child may not know or understand why it is safe.
Help your child understand and learn safe walking skills by practicing them each time you walk near or around traffic and taking the time to talk through new situations. As a driver, you can also be a role model for safe behavior. Respect pedestrians and use the drive time to teach your child about signs, signals and other traffic rules. For more information click here. To find out what is happening in CCSD related to Safe Routes to School click here.
