Florida Injury Lawyer Blog

Children, teachers, and communities will be taking part in International Walk to School Month, which is in October. The aim of International Walk to School Month is to promote walking to school, which can be a good way for children to get exercise. This is especially important today, when obesity rates among school-aged children are so high. The other aim of International Walk to School Month is to promote safe and healthy routes to school.

Organizers of International Walk to School Month point out that children who walk to school year-round are at greater risk of being affected by pedestrian accidents and injuries, and organizers hope to reduce these personal injuries while helping to promote healthy activity for children. According to organizers of International Walk to School Month, there are several things that parents and communities can do to promote safer routes to school:

1) Promote good road safety. According to NHTSA, there are several reasons why children are more at risk for pedestrian accidents. One problem is that since children are smaller, they're more difficult for drivers to see. Children who stand between parked cars are especially difficult for drivers to spot. Plus, younger children will often misjudge vehicle speeds and distances across the street, which can mean that they step out into dangerous situations. Parents can help their children by helping them understand how to cross streets safely. Children should be taught at an early age to always use sidewalks, and always wait until cars come to complete stop before crossing the road.

2) Encourage the buddy system. Younger children, especially, will often benefit by walking to school with older children. This will help ensure road safety, as well as safety from possible strangers. Parents may also want to walk younger children to school, so that they can teach them about traffic safety along the walk. According to the NHTSA, many parents assume that their children know how to cross the street and read traffic signals, even when this is not true. Parents should make an effort to teach children traffic signals and basic traffic safety rules.

3) Avoid having children walking in the evening. Poor lighting can encourage pedestrian accidents. Children, especially younger children, should always be encouraged to walk only in the daylight.

4) Make children visible. Brightly colored clothes can help drivers spot younger children. When selecting clothing to wear to school, it is also important that parents make sure that hats, scarves, and other clothing items do not block or impede children's visibility. Make sure that your child can see clearly. This allows the child to spot cars and other potential dangers on the road.

The Florida Department of Transportation is responsible for the Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Program, which has a dedicated staff, many resources, and educational materials to help prevent Florida pedestrian accidents. The Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Program makes educational brochures available and also runs the Florida School Crossing Guard Program and the Florida Traffic Safety Education Program.

The Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Program is designed to help pedestrians (which in Florida are defined as anyone “afoot, in a wheelchair, on skates, or on a skateboard” enjoy safe and pleasant walking. The program also aims to assist bicyclists enjoy safe and convenient tours and bike trips. The program aims to reduce pedestrian accidents and automobile accidents involving bicyclists.

One of the most interesting programs run by the Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Program is the Safe Ways to School program. According to a study conducted by the Florida Department of Transportation, only one out of six Florida children take a bike or walk to school. Five out of six Florida children get to school by bus or by private motor vehicle. This can actually create unsafe walking conditions, as it creates traffic congestion around schools and increases overall traffic.

The Florida Department of Transportation in conjunction with the Florida Pedestrian and Bicycle Program have launched the Safe Ways to School program to encourage walking to school. As the organizations point out, walking to school encourages exercise, which is essential at a time when childhood cardiovascular disease and obesity are at all-time high. Safe Ways to School is modeled on the Melville, Australia program "Safe School Routes,” which won a number of awards. Safe School Routes created solutions to traffic congestion and launched school initiatives such as safe houses and bus solutions to encourage safe spaces where children could walk to school.

The Florida Department of Transportation Safe Ways to School similarly uses traffic congestion and other incentives to encourage walking and to make walking to school safer. The Safe Ways to School focuses on infrastructure and non-infrastructure solutions. For example, the program aims to improve sidewalks, add signs, and reduce traffic in school areas. The program also focuses on non-infrastructure solutions such as enforcement of pedestrian and automobile legislation. The program has a school kit available for educators who wish to know more about the program.

Many parents want their children to walk to school or to get the exercise needed to stay healthy. However, fears of pedestrian accidents and other dangers propel many parents to drive their children almost everywhere. This may not only encourage obesity, but may cause children to become overly dependent on cars. The Florida Department of Transportation hopes to change all this in the near future.

A Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) report released about the government gives some insight into Florida’s fatal pedestrian accidents – and offers some tools for reducing the accident rates. According to the report and according to findings reported by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 28,970 fatal pedestrian accidents and 465,000 pedestrian injuries took place in the United States between 1990 and 1994. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) reports that roughly 9% of total US pedestrian accidents and pedestrian injuries occur in Florida. Pedestrian fatalities in Florida account for about 20% of car accident fatalities and 14% of traffic accident injuries.

The CUTR report finds that pedestrians and motorists do certain things to cause many pedestrian accidents, and this suggests that many of these accidents are preventable. According to the report, crash location and age of pedestrians affect fatalities. In Florida, the youngest and oldest walkers are most likely to be involved in pedestrian accidents. Pedestrians between 65 and 74 years of age are most likely to be killed in pedestrian accidents. Pedestrians moving along the roadway with traffic, and pedestrians who are crossing a roadway far from the intersection are most likely to be involved in an accident.

The CUTR report suggests that education of motorists and pedestrians can be a useful way to reduce accidents. Enforcement of laws against reckless driving can also help curb some of the behaviours that lead to pedestrian accidents, according to the report. The report also finds that increasing “WALK” signal times, and limiting vehicle turning movements can also help reduce the personal injuries and fatalities caused by pedestrian crashes.

The report does not suggest that motorists are not responsible for pedestrian accidents. CUTR finds that motorists who speed, drive carelessly, run stop signs and stop lights, and who refuse to yield the right-of-way dramatically increase pedestrian accident rates. Poor driving does increase the odds of pedestrian accidents and also increases the odds that those accidents will be fatal.