School Travel Safety

Our last blog looked at issues relating to early school start times and the new California law that prohibits start times for middle school students before 8 a.m. and for high school students before 8:30 a.m. But no matter what time your child begins his or her school day, being safe on the way to and from school is an important issue to everyone to keep in mind.

Safety concerns start on the way out the door in the morning and continue until students arrive at their homes at the end of the day, which for some students with after-school sports or activities can be as late as 6 or 7 pm. Our colleagues at The American Academy of Pediatrics cite research from The National Research Council  Transportation Research Board, Committee on School Transportation Safety that broke down the ways that students travel to and from school during the regular school day. These modes of travel included passenger vehicle with adult driver, 45%; school buses, 25%, other buses, 2%; passenger vehicle with teen driver, 14%; bicycle, 2%; and walking, 12%. Not included in these figures are transportation after regular school hours or for extracurricular activities. These after hours trips are often done after dark and can involve longer distances (to sporting events or tournaments outside of the home district); they have a disproportionately high occurrence of crashes.

 

What can parents do to make travel to and from school safer?

• Make sure young children are accompanied by a parent, caretaker, or responsible older sibling while walking to or from school or the bus stop
• Remind children that the bus stop is not a playground and that running around, which can often end up in the adjacent road, can be dangerous
• Dawn and dusk are the most difficult times of day for motorists to see pedestrians. As the days shorten, make sure your child is wearing at least some reflective clothing so he or she is highly visible
• Work with your PTA or other group to make sure your school has implemented appropriate safety measures -- crossing guards, dismissal and arrival procedures, and safety training as part of the curriculum -- to provide children age-appropriate safe travel
• Support graduated driving licences for teens. Teenage drivers should pass not just the State road test, but Mom or Dad's road test as well. That may mean that driving privileges are delayed until a teen demonstrates sufficient maturity and judgment to understand that the consequences of distracted driving can be deadly. 
• Model good driving practices yourself; never text or use your phone or otherwise drive with distractions and always wear seat belts. We've written before about steps to safer teen driving. Speed, having passengers in the car, and failure to wear seat belts are some of the driving practices that pose the most risk to teens.

Teen Driver Safety Week

It sometimes seems like there are "weeks" or "days" for all sorts of things, most of them them the creation of some marketing mind trying to get attention for a product or event. But this week's commemoration of Teen Driver Safety Week is one event that no parent should ignore. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. To put the issue in context, the CDC provides the following statistics: In 2014, 2,270 teens in the United States ages 16–19 were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes; six teens ages 16–19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries.

In 2013, young people ages 15-19 represented only 7% of the U.S. population. However, they accounted for 11% ($10 billion) of the total costs of motor vehicle injuries.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration focuses on five most significant risks when teens are at the wheel, and has created a "5 to Drive" campaign to address these: 

• alcohol use
• not wearing seat belts
• distracted driving
• speeding 
• extra passengers, especially other teens

There are a number of steps parents can take to reduce the risks when their teens drive. Our colleagues at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) have looked at the risk factors noted above and add a few of their own: nighttime driving, driving older vehicles, driving by teens who do not have a license, and unmedicated ADHD. They propose solutions which involve both parents and teens, including graduated driving laws, restrictions on nighttime driving and carrying passengers, and zero tolerance for alcohol use by teen drivers. 

Both the AAP and the American Automobile Association urge parents of teen drivers to consider entering into a contract with their children, first discussing the many factors that impact safe driving and then coming to an agreement about how and when their child should be operating a motor vehicle and what the consequences will be for any infractions. The AAP also offers links to information for parents about their role in safe teen driving and to clear, colorful charts (good for sharing with your teen) showing how different risk factors can affect teen driving safety.