7 Common Ways Kids Get Hit By A Car And 7 Ways To Prevent It [interactive infographic]

USA - English

44 children hit while walking every day.

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Aug 28, 2015, 06:08 ET

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- It is alarmingly common for children to get hit by a vehicle while walking. Every day, 44 children are injured; that's 16,000 kids each year.

Experience the interactive Multimedia News Release here: http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7604531-safe-kids-worldwide-back-to-school/

16 years keeping child pedestrians safe. Safe Kids Worldwide - FedEx

For more tips on walking safety, visit www.safekids.org

When kids are young, they are taught to look left, right, left before crossing the street, and to cross with an adult. But as they get older, and they are no longer with an adult, it is important to teach them that walking safely goes far beyond looking both ways before they step off the curb.

With kids back in school, now is the perfect time for a refresher course on walking safety. Safe Kids Worldwide and FedEx have teamed up to create an interactive infographic that demonstrates the seven common ways kids get hit, and how to avoid it.

"In less than five minutes, walkers can learn, or be reminded, how to not get hit by a car," said Kate Carr, President and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. "We designed the infographic to be a fun teaching tool for parents and kids, but just about everyone recognizes themselves in the common mistakes walkers make. Drivers and walkers share the road, so we just have to be smart about it."

Common Mistakes Walkers Make

# 1	Walking while distracted by a phone or headphones.
Stat:	1 in 5 high school students crosses the street while distracted.
Tip:	Phones down, heads up when walking.

# 2	Crossing in the middle of the block.
Stat:	Crossing someplace other than an intersection accounts for 81 percent of child pedestrian deaths.
Tip:	Tempted to cross mid-block? Don't do it. Take the extra time to cross at the corner.

# 3	Walking at night in dark clothes.
Stat:	75 percent of teen pedestrian deaths occur between 7pm and 7am, when it's dark out.
Tip:	Be especially alert when it's dark out, and make sure drivers can see you.

# 4	Not watching out for careless drivers.
Stat:	More than 1 in 5 pedestrian deaths happens at an intersection.
Tip:	Look left, right, left before crossing and continue looking in all directions while crossing.

# 5	Walking in the road.
Stat:	Sidewalks can reduce pedestrian crashes by almost 90%.
Tip:	It's always best to walk on sidewalks or paths. No sidewalk? Walk facing traffic as far away from vehicles as possible.

# 6	Not watching out for cars that are backing up.
Stat:	Nearly 100 kids are killed by cars backing up every year.
Tip:	Watch out for cars backing up in parking lots and driveways.

# 7	Not paying attention to the second car.
	The first car stops for the pedestrian in the crosswalk. The following car doesn't see why the car in front has stopped, so it zips around and hits the pedestrian.
Stat:	More than 80 percent of pedestrians die when hit by vehicles traveling at 40 mph or faster. Less than 10 percent die when hit at 20 mph or less.
Tip:	Pause at each lane of traffic and make eye contact with the drivers.

About Safe Kids Worldwide
Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to prevent childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States. Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and almost every one of these tragedies is preventable. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 400 coalitions in the U.S. and with partners in more than 25 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more. Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 60 percent. Working together, we can do much more for kids everywhere. Join our effort at safekids.org.

SOURCE Safe Kids Worldwide