Easy Tips for Back to School Safety

Dr. Darria

August 2, 2024

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It's time for back to school safety- because we see a bump in school / transportation related accidents every year at this time. Here are the tips an ER doctor + mama shares with her family - and friends.

40 Children/ day are hit by a vehicle in the US (including those who don’t walk to school)

According to SafeKids.org, every day in the US, over 40 children are hit by a vehicle while they’re walking. That includes walking to school, and even just between cars in the carpool line.

- NEVER cross two lanes of traffic without an adult and without a WALK sign. I took care of a devastating case when a young girl was crossing traffic at a light. The light for oncoming traffic was green, but the driver in the closest lane to her saw her and stopped, and she started to cross, not realizing that another driver was swerving around the paused driver, to pass in the 2nd lane. Often, the driver in the first lane will see the child and stop, but it’s the driver in the SECOND lane that is totally blind to the pedestrian. Just WAIT for that cross-walk light! Also, make eye contact with the drivers in each lane BEFORE you cross.
- Be cautious crossing between cars in carpool. Drivers can be distracted, and accidentally hit a little one dodging between cars to get to a parent’s vehicle.
- Phone down, heads-up while walking. 1 in 4 high schoolers will cross a street while distracted. Time walking to school – even if it’s just from the parking lot – is NOT the time to pick up their phone!
- Only cross at the crosswalk.
- Watch out for parked cars. These can back up, not seeing our smallest munchkins. Teach them to always check if there’s a driver in the driver’s seat, and then be especially careful for them backing out.

If you’re driving your own child to school, watch out for buses.

- If your child must walk in front of a bus, walk 10 feet in front. According to the National Security Council, the area 10 feet around a bus is the most dangerous for children outside the bus – make sure to walk WIDELY around buses, to make sure the driver can see you.
- Buses are dangerous to people NOT riding on them. Of the school-age child deaths from bus crashes from 2006-2016, 54 were occupants of school transportation vehicles – and 137 were occupants of other vehicles. I think of school buses the same way I think of tractor trailers – they FAR outweigh my car, and will dominate any normal vehicle, in a collision. So, I give them ALL the space they need.

Key tips for kiddos walking to school:

Reinforce these rules to any child walking to school

- Always make eye contact with drivers. Before they cross the street, I tell my children, if they’re planning to walk in front of a car (say, in a pedestrian crosswalk), to ALWAYS make eye contact with the driver who you expect to stop. Otherwise, wait for them to pass.
- Make sure that ALL lanes are stopped. I’ve taken care of children and teens who were injured when the driver in ONE lane stopped for them – and they walked – not realizing that drivers in OTHER lanes were NOT stopping. If there are multiple lanes of traffic that you’re crossing, again, make sure that ALL drivers see you and are stopping.

E-bikes are an ABSOLUTE NO in kids under 13.

With the advent of e-bikes, kids riding them are everywhere – as are stories of more and more injuries. If your child is asking for an e-bike to ride to school (or just around the neighborhood), here’s what you need to know.

- E-bikes can go extremely quickly – particularly for a child / tween to navigate. Many are allowed to go as quickly as 28 mph, if the rider is peddling and also using the motor. An accident at almost 30 mph – even with a helmet – can be devastating for the rider.
- There’s no protection for the rider. In the ER, we talk about accidents with a shorthand of “versus”. Such as “pedestrian versus car” to denote the mechanism, or “motorcycle vs car”. You can be CERTAIN, that in an “e-bike vs car”, the e-bike (and its rider) will not fare well. There’s simply zero rider protection, for a vehicle that is going quickly, AND amidst general traffic. Just do NOT allow your child to ride one.