Keeping Kids Safe Around Cars

All three of my boys are wanderers and runners. They’re the kids in Target who would, if allowed, run clear across the parking lot, grab a cart, and locate Starbursts’ aisle in the span of sixty seconds. Holding my youngest’s hand feels like I’m walking a golden retriever puppy.

Keeping them close in and out of cars is exhausting, but inclinations on busy days to give the little guys a longer leash has been kept in check since an incident three-and-a-half years ago, when the elementary-school-aged son of a family friend was hit by an SUV pulling out of the parking lot of a sports practice. The boy had a hoodie on and darted out from between two cars when an oncoming car struck him and rolled over him, severely injuring his arm and face, and one eye in particular. He had to be medevac’d to the children’s hospital in the city. After several plastic surgeries and physical therapy, he’s doing great, but it was terribly traumatic—for both the child and the woman who struck him. And it remains, for everyone who knows the family, a sobering reminder of how dangerous a mix of cars and kids are.

As a parenting magazine editor and writer, I try to steer clear of scare-mongering journalism, but I was freshly reminded of this story and felt the need to share it, after coming across some brand-new data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Commission yesterday. In 2012, 557 child and young adult pedestrians under age 20 were killed by motor vehicles in the U.S. and 22,000 were injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The average age of the patients was 8, and these on-foot accidents were most likely to occur in the spring, near schools and bus stops.

If you’ve ever been around a school zone just after dismissal, especially toward the end of the scholastic year when the weather is turning warmer, this all makes perfect sense. Parents are extra-busy and distracted, and kids are extra-excited and distracted. It’s something to think about this spring and beyond, whether you live in the city or suburbs.

Safe Kids Worldwide has some great tips on their website for helping to keep kids safe in traffic zones:

• Walk on sidewalks or paths and cross at street corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Most injuries happen mid-block or someplace other than intersections. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible.
• Put down their devices and then look left, right and left again when crossing the street.
• Make eye contact with drivers before crossing the street and to watch out for cars that are turning or backing up. Teach them to never run or dart out into the street or cross between parked cars.

Remind Yourself to…

• Put devices down when you’re driving or walking around cars. If we put our devices down, our kids are more likely to do the same.
• Accompanying kids under 10 across the street. Every child is different, but developmentally, it can be hard for kids to judge speed and distance of cars until age 10.
• Be especially alert when driving in residential neighborhoods and school zones, and be on the lookout for bikers, walkers or runners who may be distracted or may step into the street unexpectedly.
• Give pedestrians the right of way and look both ways when making a turn to help spot any bikers, walkers or runners who may not be immediately visible.
• Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.