August 12, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (David Smollar) BACK–TO-SCHOOL SAFETY REMINDERS Whether on foot, riding the bus or pedaling their bikes, students need to know how to stay safe when going to or from campus. And the public needs to exercise additional caution when the school year begins September 7 to watch out for the thousands of children attending class for the first time. "We want students to be careful and we want the public to be careful," said Jack Campana, director of Comprehensive Health for San Diego City Schools. To that end, Campana offers a number of guidelines from the National Safe Kids Campaign that students and parents should follow for maximum safety. Walking to School Pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5-14, according to Campana. Experts recommend that children under age 10 never cross the street alone. Safety tips for parents include: Choosing the safest route between home and school and practicing it with children until they can demonstrate traffic safety awareness. The same route should be used every day. Shortcuts should be avoided. Teaching children to obey and recognize traffic signals and pavement markings. A flashing "walk" sign is not an automatic "go" signal but rather a sign to check for traffic in both directions before crossing. Teaching children to cross streets at a corner or crosswalk and to walk—not run—across intersections. Emphasizing that children should not enter streets from between parked cars or from behind shrubbery. Such darting results in the majority of child pedestrian deaths. Acting as good role models both as pedestrians and as drivers. School Bus Safety Bus travel is one of the safest ways to travel to and from school, according to Campana, but injuries can occur. "Many of them take place when children are getting on or off the bus," Campana said. "Children often believe that if they can see the bus, the driver can see them. That’s not always the case." Some safety tips for riding the bus are: Having children arrive at the bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled arrival of the bus. Children should stay out of the street and not horseplay. Urging children to remain seated on the bus at all times and not to shout or distract the driver. They should keep their heads and arms inside the bus at all times. Waiting for the bus to come to a complete stop before getting on or off. Children should be taught that the driver has a "blind spot"—the area about 10 feet in front of the bus—and that they should not walk in front of the bus after getting off. Riding Bikes to School Bike riding is a favorite mode of transportation for children but it can often be dangerous. "Bicycles are associated with more childhood injuries than any other consumer product except the car," Campana said. Bicycle safety tips include: Checking with the school principal to make sure if children can ride bikes to school. Some schools do not allow it. Making sure that children wear bike helmets at all times while riding. Head injury is the leading cause of death in bike crashes. Helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by as much as 85 percent, according to studies. Obeying the rules of the road. Children should know that the rules of the road apply to all vehicles. Bike riders ride on the right-hand side of the road in the same direction as other traffic and they must use appropriate hand signals. Choosing the safest route between home and school and practicing it with children until they can demonstrate traffic safety awareness. Driving Children to School Motor vehicle accidents are now the leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths among children ages 14 and under, according to the National Safe Kids Campaign. Some 75 percent of these crashes occur within 25 miles of home and 60 percent take place on roads with posted speed limits of 40 miles per hour or less. Important safety guidelines for parents include: Always using safety seats and/or safety belts correctly when driving or riding in a car. Dropping children off as close to school as possible so they do not have to cross streets and making sure that children enter and leave the car on its curb side. Using a school’s designated drop-off and pick-up zone. For more information, please call Comprehensive Health at (858) 627-7598.