In our last post, we discussed how there is a greater risk for our children to be hit by a car (or truck or SUV or minivan) as they are walking or riding a bike, now that the new school year has started. Child pedestrian accidents often result in serious bodily injuries or death caused by trauma to the brain and/or spine.
Currently, there are state-wide programs in both Indiana and Illinois that work to encourage parents to allow their kids to walk to school (or ride their bike). It’s good exercise for the kids, they say. It helps the environment, to boot. Both of these things may be advantages to letting your kids make their own way to school each day.
However, from the perspective of advocates representing pedestrian accident victims and their families, increasing the number of kids walking (or biking) to school arguably increases the danger that they will be hurt or killed in a collision with a motor vehicle.
Focusing on the Kids for Greater Safety
The Safe Routes to School Programs (SRTS) initiated by the federal government and implemented by both the States of Indiana and Illinois works to encourage kids to walk or bike to school. The programs do consider safety issues, but it many ways dangers are addressed by looking to building infrastructure near schools or by educating kids on traffic safety as they make their way to school each day.
On-Foot Training Seminars
For instance, in Chicago there is a SRTS program where kids are given “on-foot training.” Here, a Safe Routes Ambassador runs a workshop where fifth-graders are given instruction on things like how best to cross streets and how to recognize traffic hazards.
Parental Instruction
Another example of focusing on the kids to combat pedestrian accidents is in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s “Back to School Safety” release.
NHTSA advises parents to teach kids who are walking to school to:
- Use the sidewalk whenever possible, and if there isn’t a sidewalk, walk on the edge of the street facing traffic.
- Focus when walking near traffic – this is no time for horseplay.
- Use crosswalks whenever they are available to cross the street.
- Look left-right-left before crossing any street.
NHTSA also suggests that children 10 years old or younger be accompanied by an adult when walking to school.
As part of NHTSA’s safety efforts, it has also published a bulletin to help parents teach their kids about pedestrian safety. Entitled, “Prevent Pedestrian Crashes: Parents and Caregivers of Elementary School Children,” parents of elementary school-age children are given tips that include (1) “avoid making your driveway a ‘playground,” and (2) “explain to your child the safe way you cross a street.”
Child Pedestrian Accidents Involve Motor Vehicle Drivers
In the NHTSA bulletin to parents of elementary school-age kids, the federal agency gives several scenarios for the most common child pedestrian accidents. They describe:
- Child darting out into street at corner or mid-block;
- Vehicle turning into path of a child;
- Child hidden from view by an ice cream truck;
- Child hidden from view by bus – driver does not stop; and
- Vehicle backing up in roadways, driveways, or parking lots.
The bulletin does mention that there are laws on the books regulating drivers in these situations. For instance, it recognizes that every state has passed legislation requiring drivers to stop when students are entering or exiting a school bus.
However, from the perspective of the child victim and his or her family, while it is wise to assist parents and children in learning ways to minimize the risk of a child pedestrian accident, it is not fair to suggest that the child should bear the blame when there is a serious or fatal accident involving a minor victim and a motor vehicle.
Proximate cause in child pedestrian accidents must be investigated and evaluated to learn all the circumstances surrounding the crash. Drivers cannot negate their liability by finger-pointing to a child acting like a child.
Moreover, just because there are concerns about the great number of teens walking while distracted by their phones or headphones, etc., (see our prior post for report details), this cannot serve to shift responsibility away from the driver of the vehicle that hit the child.
Pedestrian Accident Crisis in Illinois
This summer, the Illinois Department of Transportation began a public awareness campaign called “Life or Death Illinois” to address what IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn considers to be a “crisis” in the state. (Watch one 30-secord video here, where a child pedestrian is the victim of a deadly collision.)
This campaign does focus upon the driver of the motor vehicles in these preventable tragedies. From Life or Death Illinois (published August 10, 2018):
We all have a serious problem. We’re all at risk. And, we’re all at fault. Distracted Driving is killing innocent people every day on Illinois roads. We’re making conditions unsafe for everyone. We’re setting bad examples to our children by not paying attention while driving. No text, no call, no distraction is worth it. Phone and other devices down, PLEASE. It really is a matter of life or death. Learn more at www.LifeOrDeathIllinois.com.
Motor Vehicle Drivers Must Be Vigilant
Drivers need to be alert at all times for anyone walking along the roadside, or preparing to cross the roadway, regardless of their age. However, anyone driving near children must be vigilant. We cannot expect a child to act responsibly at all times. They are minors, not adults.
Sadly, past fatalities have forced legislation to be passed that requires drivers to do things like slow down to a 20 mph speed limit when driving near a school, or not allowing drivers to pass while in a school zone.
Of course, drivers disregard these laws all the time. They are in a hurry. They don’t see any kids, so they decide to ignore the school zone protocols. Or they disobey other laws, like not driving while intoxicated or impaired, or exceeding the speed limit.
A child may decide to run after a soccer ball and enter a roadway unexpectedly, or a teenager may be so busy on his phone that he fails to see an approaching SUV. It is the responsibility of the adult drivers to drive defensively when driving near children. This cannot be mitigated because children have been given access to safety tips at school.
Encouraging more kids to walk to school is good for their health, but it increases their risk of being hit by a negligent adult driver.
Please prepare your children for the risks of distracted drivers if they are walking or driving to school this year. Let’s be careful out there!
