This Week Talk About Safety

This week take time to review the rules for buses, bicycles, and pedestrian crossings. Teach your children how to stay calm in an emergency.

There are many traffic safety tips to share with your children to keep them safe when you can’t be with them. These tips may seem a bit trite, but they bear repeating (and repeating and repeating and repeating for kids).


First and foremost, set a good example by always following the traffic safety rules yourself. Children learn by example.

• Choose the safest route to school and walk it with your child prior to allowing them to travel it on their own.

• Always look both ways before crossing the street.

• Cross in the crosswalks at the corner, not in the middle of the block. Never cross from between parked cars. Never cross an intersection diagonally.

• Cross the street with the Crossing Guard whenever possible.

• Children should look to see that drivers are aware of them. Making eye contact with a driver is a good way to know whether a driver is aware that someone is about to cross the road.

• Cross quickly – do not linger or play in the street.

• Always wear a helmet when riding a bicycle, skateboard, or scooter.

• Remember the same rules (look both ways, use crosswalks, etc) apply when riding a bike.

• Walk bicycles, skateboards, and scooters across the crosswalk.

• Be careful in parking lots – look out for the cars as they may not be able to see you. Never walk or run in front of cars.

• Teach children the meaning of traffic signs. Stop at all stop signs, red lights, and obey traffic signals. When the intersection has crossing signals, only cross when the walk signal is lit.

• When walking on sidewalks, be aware of driveways and alleys from which cars may emerge.

• When walking down a street with no sidewalks, walk as near to the edge of the road as possible, facing traffic. Bright colored clothing increases visibility, but when walking/biking near dusk reflective tape should be used on jackets, backpacks, bikes, etc.