Community Corner

Student Safety Tips for the Ride Back to School

Belmont Shore and Naples school students need to ride or scooter across busy Second Street and sometimes short-cut through alleys that spill onto bustling residential areas. Here are some tips.

Nationwide from 1998 to 2008, 149 pedestrians younger than 19 died in school transportation-related crashes. Over two-thirds (69%) were killed by school buses, 7% by vehicles functioning as school buses, and 24% by other vehicles involved in the crashes, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Nearly half (47%) of all school-age pedestrians killed in school transportation-related crashes were between the ages of 5 and 7 years old.

 As thousands of Belmont Shore students goes back to school Sept. 5, as do more than 80,000 total in Long Beach Unified School District, law enforcement this week reminded us that normal commuter traffic will not necessarily adapt to large numbers of children returning to streets and sidewalks. LA Unified returns to class this week, and LAPD offered these safety tips for getting to school safely. Today we feature our "wheeled" safety tips. Previously we featured our "on foot" safety tips.

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Riding Your Bicycle, Skateboard or Scooter

 1. The best and smartest bicycle riders always wear their bicycle

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    Helmets. They know that bicycle helmets will keep their heads and

    brains safe.

 2. Ask an adult to make sure that your helmet fits correctly. The

    helmet should fit low on your forehead so that two fingers fit

    between it and your eyebrows. Another way to check is to put the

    helmet on your head and look up. If you can’t see your helmet, it is

    too far back.

 3. To ride safely, you need to know the rules of the road. Do you know what “the rules of the road” are for bicycles? If you don’t, then you should not ride in traffic or without an adult.

 4. When you ride your bicycle, wearing a helmet helps to keep you safe. You should also wear bright colors during the day, and right before the sun rises or sets. This makes it easier for drivers to see you, and that helps to keep you safe, too.

 5. Practice makes you more skilled at riding your bicycle. The more skilled you are at riding, the less likely you will be to crash.

6. Practice riding skills in an empty parking lot or a place with no traffic. Practice such things as riding in a straight line, looking over your shoulder, signaling with your hands, and starting and stopping.

7. Ride on the right side of the road or trail in a single file line (one bike behind the other in the same direction as other vehicles and come to a complete stop before crossing streets. Walk your bike on school grounds.  Park and lock your bike in the bike racks.


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