5 Tips You Should Teach Your Child to Stay Safe When Walking on the Streets

No parent wants his child to get hurt, certainly not when they are on their own for a while. You want them to understand how to make themselves safe on the streets, but believe me, sometimes it gets very difficult. After all, you never know when traffic may get unpredictable, and even the best drivers may sometimes be wrong.

We’ve all said this a million times: “Wait for the light!” “Use the crosswalk!” It is way, way more than that. It’s the teaching of your children to be more aware of what’s going on around them and think before acting. Even though the light says that it is okay to cross, that doesn’t mean that cars will stop.

If, unfortunately, your child is involved in a pedestrian accident, you should seek legal advice. Attorneys for pedestrian accident cases are well-trained in the art of holding reckless drivers and other responsible parties accountable for their actions.

Here are five tips you should share with your child to avoid becoming a victim of a pedestrian accident.

1. Use Crosswalks and Traffic Lights Properly

You’d probably tell your child to wait for the green light, but of course, there’s more. Now you may be aware of busy cities or even a busy neighborhood where cars, it appears, are not always following the stop rule.

It’s not just about turning when the signal says “walk.” The take is to make sure the cars stop, even if it will mean waiting another few seconds for lights in their favor. Watch those cars making that right turn.

At times, drivers fail to notice pedestrians as they turn so checking both ways before stepping into the street is something they should do for life.

2. No Phones or Headphones While Walking

Kids love their phones, but they should not become glued to them. One of the common distractions involves children’s phones. If their eyes are on the phone, or they have their headphones on, it means they are not paying complete attention to things happening around them-like a car suddenly turning.

Tell them to put the phone away when they are walking, and to stop at a safe location before taking out to use it. In regard to headphones, is better to have one earbud out or tuned down, one can be more aware of those surrounding sounds.

3. Look Left, Right—and Left Again

It is simple in theory, but to “look both ways” implies a more than perfunctorily glance. Most pedestrian accidents occur outside of marked crosswalks or at places where cars aren’t expected to stop.

You must teach your child to stop, look left, right and left again to cross the street. That becomes a lifesaver where cars are yielding out of driveways or making last-minute turns.

4. Watch Out in Parking Lots and Driveways

The most frequent locations for a child’s accident are parking lots and driveways. It is said that kids are knocked down in parking lots every weekend nationwide. A lot of them are not checking the area for people around when they reverse and it is worse with little ones as they are really small and very easy to miss.

Tell your child to be specially watchful when walking through parking lots or past cars. Tell them they should never assume a driver can see him and to always walk in front of parked cars not behind them.

5. Don’t Rush

One of the main hazards is rushing. They are rushing across streets without paying attention to what they are doing, especially if they hurry. But rushing leads to mistakes. 3373 people died in the first half of 2023, many of those happened because of a decision made out of hasty consideration.

For instance, you can teach your child that it is better to run late but safe than to run across the street without checking. Waiting a few seconds for the next light or ensuring the coast is clear might be the act that saves a life literally.