Fall usually means kids heading back to school in droves, but this is a year unlike any other. While the classrooms won’t be packed at the beginning of the semester, it just means there’s more time to freshen up on accident prevention education.
Chicago backtracked plans to have in-person classes for children this fall, but the city will reexamine conditions in a few short months. This means your children may still see the inside of a classroom this year, which also means using transportation to get there.
Traveling children
Illness isn’t the only danger that families face when kids are heading back to school. Over a ten-year period that concluded in 2017, 264 children died in accidents while on their way to school. Buses didn’t add much to that number and prove to be a relatively safe way to travel, but many children were victims in other situations:
- Waiting for the bus to arrive
- Walking or biking to school
- Carpooling or driving with friends
Preventing perils
Keeping your children safe starts with education. While you may know what’s best, it’s important to have a discussion with your kids to help them remember how to act on the way to class.
- Walking: Children need to stay aware on their way to school in case a driver isn’t. Walking while facing traffic, only using crosswalks and looking both ways before crossing could save their life.
- Biking: Helmets, brakes and signals should all be in working order. This will help reduce the damage if there is an accident. Bikers should also focus on obeying traffic laws and watching cars around them.
- Driving: Young, inexperienced drivers are easily distracted. Additional passengers, phones and the radio could all contribute to new drivers taking their eyes off the road. Those few precious seconds could be all it takes to get in serious trouble.
Safely arriving to school is the first step to a good education. Though children aren’t heading back into the classroom just yet, it’s still important to know how to keep them safe when it comes time to make the journey.
If your child is the victim of an accident, it’s essential that you get the help you need for a full recovery. Contact Martin Law, LLC, for a free consultation with one of our attorneys today.
