blog home Child Safety Are you safety-ready for back-to-school?

Are you safety-ready for back-to-school?

By Ken Gibson on August 28, 2017

The waning days of summer are here, and soon Virginia’s air will turn a bit cooler. We all know what that means—time for the kids to go back to school!

If you have children (like we do), it’s up to you to get them ready. This means buying new school uniforms or clothes, plus other supplies like backpacks, pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, and the list seems to go on and on!

But what a lot of parents don’t think about supplying their children with is knowledge about safety when traveling to and from school.  We hope these checklists will help you help them learn more!

Walk to school safely checklist

If your kids are taking the bus or being driven to school, they should be relatively safe. But if your child is walking to school, make sure he or she knows the following:

• The exact route to take, and to take that same route every day. If this is a new school or the child is just starting the school, make a practice run together.
• To never take shortcuts.
• How to safely cross streets by looking both ways and how to use any traffic signals.
• To walk in groups or with a friend or sibling when possible.
• To never run across intersections.
• To never look at a phone or a game while walking.
• To only cross the street at corners and crosswalks. Never jaywalk.
• To make eye contact with drivers before crossing in front of them.
• To wear bright or reflective clothing.
• To stay on the sidewalk (if there is one).
• To never, ever accept a ride from a stranger.

Ride to school safely checklist

The safety rules for riding a bike to school are pretty much the same as above, but with these additions:

• Always wear a properly fitted helmet.
• Have your bike equipped with lights and reflectors.
• Ride on the right side of the street, never on the middle or left side of the street.
• Never ride on busy streets.

We hope your child has a fun, safe, and fulfilling school year. We at GibsonSingleton Virginia Injury Attorneys are parents too, so we know how concerned you are about your child’s safety.

If the unthinkable should happen and your child is ever injured in a pedestrian accident, call us immediately at (804) 413-6777. We will sit down with you and discuss legal options for recovery, and it won’t cost you a thing.