An estimated 152,000 school-aged children are injured yearly traveling to and from school. Most of those are caused by passenger vehicles, according to Tapco. Local authorities are asking driver to take extra caution.
Schools across Colorado will reopen their doors for a school year without a long list of COVID cautions. However, school transportation-related crashes remain a concern.
According to Bankrate, more than 1,000 fatal school transportation-related crashes happened between 2011 and 2020, averaging 113 fatalities a year. Studies also found that as many as 40 students who walk are hit by a vehicle each day.
Local officials say these accidents are preventable if drivers take extra care to pay attention.
- Slow down and be especially alert in neighborhoods and school zones.
- Take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians, and on curbs.
- Enter and exit driveways and alleys slowly and carefully.
- Watch for children on and near the road in the morning and after school hours.
- Reduce any distractions inside your car so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.
- Put down your phone and don’t talk or text while driving.
- Obey school zone speed limits and follow your school's drop-off procedure.
- Make eye contact with children crossing the street.
- Never pass a bus loading or unloading children.
- The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children; stop far enough back to allow them to safely enter and exit the bus.
Driver are not the only ones who can prevent these accidents. An observation conducted by Safe Kids Worldwide found that 1 in 4 high school students walked while distracted. Thirty-one percent of students were discovered to be looking at their phones while 44% walked while listening to music.
"If you're looking down at your phone, you're less able to see what's happening around you. The dangers of texting while walking include missing a light that changes or a car that shifts direction, leading to cell phone pedestrian accidents," states the State Farm website.
Safe Kids Worldwide lists these tips for maintaining pedestrian safety.
- Teach kids at an early age to look left, right and left again before crossing the street.
- All children, especially teenagers, should put away phones, headphones and other devices before crossing the street.
- Use sidewalks and paths and cross at street corners when crossing the street. Use traffic signals and crosswalks when available.
