Pedestrian Safety Tips for Kids

This is a sponsored guest post.

Being a parent can be terrifying. There is so much responsibility and so many things that can go wrong. Children are these tiny vulnerable things, and as a parent, your most important job is keeping your children healthy and safe. People often don’t fully realize all of the dangers that exist out in the world until it becomes their responsibility to protect someone from those dangers.

How Parents Can Protect Their Children

While everyone faces risks in many aspects of their lives, children are often more vulnerable than the rest of us. There are many things that a parent can do to help protect their children from dangers faced by pedestrians every day. The older your children get, the less you are able to protect them from danger. When they are small, though, you typically have a lot of influence regarding their safety.

Begin Safety Lessons Early

Often, by instilling safe practices while your child is still very small, they will carry those safety skills with them as they grow older. This development of skills is essential as you won’t always be able to look out for them, and they will have to learn to protect themselves. Because of this, leading by example is one of the best ways to protect your child from harm.

Set a Good Example

As an adult, many people feel comfortable that their safety will not be compromised by disregarding some of the laws put in place to protect pedestrians. When needing to cross the street on an empty road with no cars in sight, most people will not walk down to the crosswalk and will instead jaywalk, crossing the street in the middle of the road.

While this may be very tempting, and as long as you are careful about it, is perfectly safe to do so, you should avoid this behavior when you have your children with you. By walking down to the corner and then looking both ways before you cross the street, you will help to show your child proper safety protocols. Seeing you do this will make them more likely to mimic your behavior and protect themselves.

Walking With Your Children

When crossing the street with your child, you should hold your child’s hand and not only look both ways yourself, but encourage your child to do so as well, have them look left, right, and then left again with you before you step out into the road. Young children should never cross the street without an adult. Make sure to make eye contact with any drivers as you cross the street to make sure they see you.

Always walk on the sidewalk with your child. If there are no sidewalks, walk on the left side of the road, so that you are facing oncoming traffic. Have your child walk to your left or behind you so that you are shielding them from the road.

Playing Outside

When playing outside, you should always find a place away from the road where your children can play. If you have a fenced-in yard, this is the best option. Kids can move fast, and if there is no obstruction between them and the road, even a momentary distraction can lead to disaster. A fence provides you with the comfort that your child will be safe from cars even if you are briefly preoccupied.

Talk to Your Kids About Safety

While small children mimic the behavior of their parents, it is still important to talk to your kids about safety. The more ways in which you help to instill positive safety behaviors in your children, the more likely they are to stay safe even when you are not around. Feeling confident that your children know how to behave safely will give you better peace of mind that they will be okay even when you are not around.

If the Worst Does Happen

Unfortunately, even if parents and children do everything right, accidents do still happen. Children are small and can be difficult for drivers to see, and sometimes a distracted driver will not notice a child in time. If your child is struck by a vehicle and suffers injuries, you are going to want to hire a qualified personal injury lawyer to hold the negligent driver responsible.

An experienced attorney can help you to not only get the money to recoup your losses for medical expenses and possible therapies. They can also help you to get money to cover the pain and suffering caused to you and your child. A serious accident can be life-altering. If your child is permanently disabled from being struck by a vehicle, no amount of money can make that right. 

Proper compensation can, however, provide you with the money necessary to help your child to live their best life and to move on from this painful and traumatic event.