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ADVICE RATING

5.00 (Highly recommend) from 14 votes (90 Visits)

Kids as pedestrians

by cazza

(July 2007) (rank 2nd)

Today i had the scariest road trip as some of you would have read on my blog and also to the ones that made me feel better on msn.. I truly love how i can count on my friends on minti to be there,,,,.....

So below

i decided to give advise on what to teach our children, and pray the message will get across and kids will start liistening...

Kids as pedestrians

Children can be hit by cars by running into traffic, playing in the street, and making errors of judgement when crossing the street. Before about the age of ten, they have not developed the skills and knowledge to handle risky situations. Their impulsive actions can often take drivers by surprise. It is a mistake to assume that children can handle traffic risks by themselves, without help from parents. Parents can help in the following ways, bearing in mind the age and development stage of the child:

Set clear limits for where they can walk safely. Find places away from streets, driveways or parking lots - choose locations such as fenced areas, parks and playgrounds.
Practice how to cross the street safely in every day situations such as going to the shops, visiting a friend or going to school. Always set a good example by crossing a street properly and using crossing facilities where available.
Teach them the basic elements of crossing safely, using the Stop, Look, Listen and Think approach

stop at the kerb
look and listen for traffic
decide whether it is safe to cross.
Teach them its unsafe to run across the road.........

Talk about road rules in simple terms so that the child understands the reasons for various restrictions and what can happen when rules are broken.
Teach your child to get in and out of the car on the kerb side, avoiding the dangers from passing cars.

Hope that this advise will just save one person the heartache i endured today, and lets keep our children safe on the roads...

Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.

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ADVICE RATING

5.00 (Highly recommend) from 14 votes

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	5.00 (Excellent) \| October 2007 \| ellamia

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Great advice cazza. Its scary even for adults my hubby almost got hit everyday walking to work. Ridiculous. Thank you

Love Kelly

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| mumof2b

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Excellent Advice Cazza..........cars and kids just don't mix.........I walk Zak to school everyday so he is very aware of the roads and watches out for driveways and when crossing the road. There is one street we cross that curves around and we can't see properly, so we walk slowly while watching the road, that way the car will have plenty of time to see us plus we can when we see the car we can walk a bit faster. He knows that even though there are crossings, we don't start to walk until the cars have stopped to let us cross. Luke is only 2 but he also is very aware of the roads and he knows to hold my hand when crossing the road.

Our school has "crossing awards" given out at assembly for children that use the crossing safely.

Amanda xxxxx

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| Libby24

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Excellent Advice

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| stacey79

Re: Kids as pedestrians

at my sons school you have mothers standing on the other side of the road calling for the kids to run across when there is a crossing not 5 metres away it disgusts me that parents continue to do this

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| stacey79

Re: Kids as pedestrians

great artical by the way

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

thank you and yes it makes you wonder sometimes. and the parents think its never going to hurt there children and that therir children are invinsible on the roads...

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| lilysmom

Re: Kids as pedestrians

excellent article!

here in halifax a couple kids get hit by cars every summer. it's really sad because most of them don't make it or are disabled by it. i cant even imagin their parents pain!

but i have a HUGE pet peeve! here we have flashing lights over the cross walks, and i don't know who taught these kids to cross the road, but alot of them (and adults too mind you) just hit the button and i guess they think that the flashing lights will save them from the on comming cars. it does take a few seconds to stop, and sometime's people are too close to stop without causing an accident. kids really need to be reminded to make sure that all the cars are stopped before crossing, and to get off their bikes and walk!

again, thanks for bringing up something so important.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

absloutely agree with you, and thank you.........

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| nell18-3

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Great article Cazza
Great reminder to us all
xxx

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

thank you...

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| emmie

Re: Kids as pedestrians

great advice cazza , i do not allow kylie anywhere near the road unless holding my hand or the pushchair .

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

yes im the same with chloe, so you could imagine how chloe was yesterday when this kid did what he did,...and as naughty as she was as she swore at him, i knew that my message to her about the road safety got through to her..

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| Kellzacar

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Great advice mate . . . .

Right from babies I always say stop and wait at the curb, we must look finny as a family when we go for a walk because my kids and dogs all STOP at the curb and wait until we all say "cross" before crossing the road.

One very important thing you forgot to mention is to teach your kids NEVER to run across a road as if they fall or trip an oncoming car may not see them!

Cheers Kellz

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

have to agree with you there alana, and thankyou for that bit about bnot running across the road..i was very shaken up when i wrote it, and just thought about what could have happened, thank god it all wprked out......

Im the same as you with the kids and dog hehe stopping at the curb, and when they were little we used to sing one of the wiggles songs about road safety...

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| hermy

Re: Kids as pedestrians

well done in putting this out cazza

.......it's so important to make our children aware of the dangers......like i said before children have no fear....or they just forget to think.......great advice.....regards Sandra xxx

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

thank you sandra and yes i agree kids have no fear, and i just thought being this kid was 11 years old he would know better... chloe told him off big time hehe..

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| llmunchkin

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Good advice, especially the part that parents play by setting a good example... I see so many parents running across the road against the lights, near to - but not on pedestrian crossings. They get their kids out on the road side of the car, and they don't even talk to their kids at the roadside to see if they are aware of when it is safe to cross. I talk it up with Jaydee whether he is in the stroller or walking down the street with me. Also, parents should collect their children from the same side of the road as their school, and if they can't park on the same side, they should get out and walk to meet their kids at the gate.

People also need to remember, that just because they are at a pedestrian crossing, or crossing at lights, they still need to look and make sure that vehicles have come to a halt before stepping out on to the road. This goes double for kids as they are much harder to see.

Car parks are a nightmare too - a little person could pop out from anywhere - it pays to look for signs of shadows and little footsteps when driving in busy areas. Drive to the traffic/pedestrian/weather conditions regardless of what the speed limit for the area is. I have a few friends that used to be road safety officers in Sydney, and they found that in school areas, it was often mother's who were the most careless, drivers. When questioned, many didn't care too much about being cautious once they had their own kids in the car! I have to say, it often looks that way too.

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| cazza

Re: Kids as pedestrians

yes you have made some great points there, and i will be today making sure the principal drums it into the kids as the road we travel on at our school is dangerous...

Reply

	5.00 (Excellent) \| July 2007 \| llmunchkin

Re: Kids as pedestrians

Yes, I worked in the driver/rider training industry for about 6 years, can you tell? Sorry - didn't mean to get carried away, it is just something I am a little passionate about too.

You go get them - name and shame is a good way to get those bad parents to tow the line. A little private letter to them from the school or a chosen committee of other parents could go a long way.

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Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of Minti.com Pty Ltd. If you are searching for health related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Terms of Service for more details.

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