We want to see the creative ways you’ve incorporated visibility into your child’s costume! Share a photo of your kids’ flashing, glowing or reflecting costume to show us how you’re keeping them safe this Halloween, and you will be entered for a chance to receive a $50 Amazon gift card.
We worked with FedEx to develop a special pedestrian safety book, Clifford Takes a Walk. In the book, Clifford and his friends learn how to walk safely. In celebration of International Walk to School Day, we’re offering classrooms a chance to win 100 books for their school.
As part of the #SaveKidsLives campaign, Safe Kids Union County joined together with our community partners, including Fire Departments, Local Law Enforcement, Union County Health Department, Carolinas HealthCare System Union, and local officials to raise awareness and keep kids safe on the road. Together, we shared the Child Declaration to teach children about the importance of road safety and how to stay safe on our roads.
With the speed camera, drivers will have an added incentive to slow down and hopefully be more aware of pedestrians crossing the street. I know speed cameras and red light cameras, collectively called safety cameras, are controversial, but these technologies work. They help to make us better drivers and lives are saved.
Around the world, close to 3,400 people, including more than 500 children, die on and around roads each day and many more are injured or disabled. In the spirit of World Day of Remembrance, we are asking everyone to remember Christina, a 15-year-old high school sophomore, who was struck and killed by a car on October 31, 2012. Christina’s mom, Gwen Ward, is working hard to make sure we honor Christina’s memory by encouraging everyone to put their devices down and pay attention when they cross the street.
If you have ever lived in or experienced city life, you know that there are other alternatives to owning a car. When I was younger, between the ages of 6 and 14, I was lucky enough to live in Paris, France. Needless to say, Paris is a busy city and many people walk to get where they are going.
One of the most interesting aspects of working at Safe Kids is that we get to play "detective.” If we see a statistic we find alarming, like that every hour of every day a teen is hit by a car and killed or injured in the U.S., we get to try to figure out the five W’s, who, what, where, when and why. Last year, we discovered that the pedestrian death rate for teens is twice that of younger children. This year, we took our detective role one step further. We surveyed 1000 teens ages 13-18 to understand more about their walking habits: what they’re doing, and why.
My favorite thing to do while walking by myself was listening to music. I love music. As a child, I was always singing and being scolded by my Aunt Joyce for humming at inappropriate times. But music is soothing to me; it makes me feel happy, playful and, at times, sad. Listening to music and walking seemed, to me, a harmless combination. Needless to say, I soon found out the danger of it.