Facts About Injuries to Child Pedestrians - Pedestrian injury remains the 2nd leading cause of unintentional injury-related death...(pdf) 

Teaching Children Pedestrian Safety

Young children have difficulty judging which direction traffic sounds are coming from, how fast cars are going and how far away they are.  They think cars can stop instantly, and if they can see the driver, the driver can see them.

Pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14. Parents often overestimate their child’s pedestrian skills.  Because children are impulsive and usually have difficulty judging speed, spatial relations and distance, SAFE Guilford recommends that children under 10 years of age never cross the street alone.

SAFE Guilford recommends participating with your child and always following these additional pedestrian safety guidelines:

• Choose the safest and most direct route with the fewest street crossings.
• Recognize and obey traffic signals and markings.
• Cross the street at corners or crosswalks; don’t enter the street from between parked cars or from behind bushes and shrubs.

• Stop, look LEFT, RIGHT, and LEFT again before crossing the street

• Walk, don’t run, while crossing the street.
• Walk, facing traffic, as far to the left as possible when sidewalks are not available.

• Watch for cars turning or backing out of driveways.

• Prohibit play in driveways, streets, parking lots and unfenced yards adjacent to streets.
• Never run into a street after a ball or pet.