3 Things To Teach Your Kids About Road Safety
Even before your kids are driving age, you still have to be concerned about their safety when on the road. Not only can your children be injured in a car accident as passengers, but they can also get injured by other drivers simply when walking as pedestrians. Because of this, it’s important that you teach your children how to safely walk along a road and interact with drivers on the street. However, teaching this to your children in a way that they understand and remember can be challenging. So to help with the task, here are three things to teach your kids about road safety.
Stress The Importance Of Crosswalks
Many people around the world choose to not use crosswalks when going from one side of the street to the other. However, in many areas, this is actually illegal, not to mention very unsafe. Because of this, Chris Richardson, a contributor to SafeRide4Kids.com, advises that you spend a decent amount of time teaching your kids the importance of crosswalks. While this is a space where pedestrians should be able to cross safely and always have traffic stop for them, you should still teach your children to be vigilant in these areas, as you can’t always depend on drivers to follow the rules and laws of the road. But by getting your children to always cross at a crosswalk, you can help them stay safer and be better seen when crossing the street.
Wear The Right Clothing When Walking Near Roadways
When you and your children are walking along a roadway, the best thing you can do to keep yourself safe is to make sure that you’re seen. To make this easier, RoadSafetyWeek.org advises that you always dress your children in bright clothes when they’ll be walking along the streets when traffic is present. Additionally, you should give your children shoes that have some type of reflective materials on them or supply them with backpacks that are bright and reflective to make it even easier for drivers to see them on the side of the road or in crosswalks.
Teach What Certain Sign Colors Mean or What The Words Say
Depending on the age and maturity of your children, they might not be very aware of their surroundings or able to read signs placed along the street that could keep them safe. If this is the case for your family, Emily of MothersandMore.org shares that you should teach your kids at least what certain colors mean in traffic, like red meaning stop and white or green meaning that it’s safe to go. You could also teach them to recognize the letter or words that are important to keep them safe, like STOP or WAIT.
To help your family stay safe when walking along the streets, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn what to teach your little ones regarding road safety.