“Kids will be walking and biking to school, getting on and off school buses and in and out of cars as parents drop them off and pick them up,” Rulie Fletcher, AAA Oklahoma spokesperson, wrote in a press release. “All of these situations create extra hazards for drivers as well as the student pedestrians and bicyclists.”
Nearly one-fifth of traffic fatalities of children below the age of 15 are pedestrians, according to AAA. More school-age pedestrians are killed between the hours of 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. — the typical end of the school day — than any other time.
A recent study from the Texas Law Dog ranks Oklahoma City the second most dangerous city in the United States for pedestrians, with four pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people.
School children aren’t the only students at risk. Earlier this year, a driver killed an Oklahoma State University student in a hit-and-run on campus in Stillwater.
To keep students safe, AAA recommends drivers and parents follow these safety guidelines:
- Slow down in school zones.
- Put down the phone and focus on driving safely.
- Brake for school buses.
- Reverse responsibly by checking for children on the sidewalk, driveway and around your vehicle before slowly backing up.
- Teach your children to never play in, under or around vehicles — even those that are parked.
- Always come to a complete stop, checking carefully for children on sidewalks and in crosswalks before proceeding.
- Be aware of bicycles.
- If your child rides a bicycle to school, require that they know proper bicycle-traffic safety rules and wear a helmet on every ride.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
