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Stop, Look, Listen, Learn: Program Teaches Pedestrian Safety to Area Schoolkids

Posted on: Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Edgar Sanchez, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Apr. 11--Children in greater Sacramento are learning pedestrian safety one step at a time.

In some cases, they are doing so under police supervision - by moving through a portable, mock mini-city that visits area schoolyards.

Cesar Benavides, 8, looked all around him as he stood on a corner in the tiny "safe city" during its recent stop at Edward Kemble Elementary School in south Sacramento.

When the pedestrian light said "walk," the third-grader stepped onto the crosswalk and continued to look in all directions as he safely walked across.

"That's excellent! Give me a high-five!" Sacramento Police Officer Steve Womack, who was waiting on the other side, told Cesar.

Womack's partner, Officer John W. Banks, also applauded, telling Cesar, "That's the way to do it!"

"It was fun," Cesar said later. "Today I learned that walking the streets isn't too safe."

One by one, more than 250 students at the school took turns in the crosswalk under the officers' watchful eyes.

Children were in no danger of getting hit by cars; all the approaching vehicles were stationary and made of cardboard.

The Traffic Safety Program, which also teaches bicycle-riding rules, is a collaboration between the UC Davis Trauma Prevention Program and public safety agencies.

Its goal is to reduce accidents involving child pedestrians and child bicyclists, said Dana Long, a spokeswoman for the UC Davis Center for Injury Prevention.

In 2004, the last year for which data were available, 4,641 pedestrians were killed across the nation, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Nearly 400 of the victims - or about 8.4 percent - were children between the ages of 5 and 15. Of the 725 bicyclists killed that year, 149, or 20.5 percent, were in that age group, the NHTSA said.

Nurses at the UC Davis Medical Center know firsthand the trauma of such accidents.

During the first eight months of 2005, the UC Davis Emergency Room/Trauma Department admitted 1,026 children ages 5 to 18 who had been injured in pedestrian-related accidents or while riding their bicycles, Long said.

"You can't say enough about preventing injuries to children on bicycles and child pedestrians in Sacramento County," said Roxanne Woods, a registered nurse in UC Davis' Trauma Prevention Program, explaining that such injuries trail only auto accidents as the top reason children end up at the medical center.

Many child bicyclists, Long said, do not wear properly fitting helmets, while others wear no head protection at all.

UC Davis' Traffic Safety Program began in 1999, after it purchased the "safe city" with a grant of about $10,000 from the state Office of Traffic Safety.

The UC Davis trauma-prevention staff completed three days' training on how to use the make-believe city as a teaching tool.

They, in turn, have trained other professionals, ranging from members of the California Highway Patrol to Woodland and Sacramento police officers, and health care providers, on how to use the city at safety events.

"Since 1999, 56 area schools have received the traffic safety presentations, reaching more than 33,000 children in grades K-6," Long said, adding the number does not include programs held at health and safety fairs.

Students at Edward Kemble Elementary School were visibly excited when the city's traffic signals, railroad tracks and sidewalks were assembled.

"We've had a lot of traffic problems in front of our school, such as speeding motorists," Shana Henry, the school's principal, said.

Students learned the safety tips with their individual classes during 15-minute programs.

"The three safety words I want you to practice when you're a pedestrian are stop, look and listen" before crossing an intersection, Officer Banks told each class.

"Before crossing, listen for the sound of approaching cars and look left, right and then left again to be sure that no cars are coming," he said. "As you cross the road, keep looking in all directions."

Womack urged the students to wear bright clothes at night, and to never run out into the street or go between parked cars.

During each program, Banks emphasized that under state law, all children under age 6, or weighing less than 60 pounds, cannot ride in a car's front seat, but must be secured in a child restraint system in the back seat.

"I'm grateful that my department allows me" to teach traffic safety to children when schools request it, Banks said later. "It deeply saddens me every time I hear that a child has been killed while crossing a street or riding a bicycle. I want to do all I can to help prevent such tragedies."

Despite their traffic safety expertise, Banks and Womack are new to the Traffic Safety Program. Edward Kemble was only the second school where the two veteran officers have put on the program.

Schools and organizations seeking to schedule a Traffic Safety Program should phone (916) 734-9782.

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PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE SAFETY NUMBERS FOR THE NATION 4,641 PEDESTRIANS KILLED IN 2004

400 PEDESTRIAN VICTIMS AGES 5-15

725 BICYCLISTS KILLED IN 2004

149 BICYCLE VICTIMS AGES 5-15

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Sacramento Bee

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