Pedestrian Safety

Approximately 5,900 pedestrians are killed by automobiles every year and 85,000 suffer nonfatal injuries. Almost one-quarter of these victims are children under the age of 15 yet they represent only about 20 percent of the U.S. population.
By following the few safety tips listed below, you can protect yourself and your children.
• It is critical to teach children to look left-right-left before crossing streets.

• Cross only at designated crossings. Entering traffic mid-block or from between parked cars is dangerous.

• Teach children to never dart out into traffic.

For your information.
• A growing number of communities are implementing measures to make their environments more walkable, ranging from including sidewalks on all newly constructed streets, to implementing widespread traffic-calming measures.

• The physical environment does impact how much and how safely residents can and will walk. In research comparing communities with suburban sprawl (few sidewalks and inaccessible pedestrian destinations like large malls surrounded by parking lots) to traditional communities (with plentiful sidewalks and inviting downtown commercial areas), it was found there were three times as many pedestrian trips in the communities designed with pedestrians in mind.

For more information on reducing risk or any of our other services, please contact Jeff Harrison at jeff.harrison@cbservices.org or 800.807.0300 ext 2543.

Information and recommendations are compiled from sources believed to be reliable. The National Safety Council makes no guarantee as to and assumes no responsibility for the correctness, sufficiency or completeness of such information or recommendations. Other or additional safety measures may be required under particular circumstances. Last Revised: 04/09