Whether they’re walking to and from school for the first time or playing with neighborhood friends, pedestrian safety is a crucial lesson you can teach your kids—especially with the new school year fast approaching. It’s also particularly relevant as more kids are losing valuable school bus service due to budget cuts.

Pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of death among children ages 5 to 14, according to Safe Kids USA. Because one in six drivers is distracted by their cell phones, eating, drinking or conducting other alarming behaviors while driving past school zones, kids can’t rely on drivers to keep them safe. Further, since Long Island tends to be a place without sidewalks, and where most of us drive everywhere, children don’t get a lot of experience walking to school or playdates. This can prove fatal.

Our Most Dangerous Roads

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 4,000 pedestrian fatalities occurred in the United States in 2009, with the 14-and-younger age group accounting for 244 of those fatalities. Locally, within a span of 18 months, Route 25/25A in Smithtown has been the culprit of three pedestrian fatalities. One of those was 11-year-old Courtney Sipes, who was struck in 2009 by a hit-and-run driver between Lawrence Avenue and Main Street.

Accidents like these don’t go unnoticed by Long Island residents, says Kathy Bottner of Safe Kids Suffolk County Coalition in Stony Brook.  “I was at Courtney’s memorial and thousands of people were there. One child’s death not only affects family members, it also affects and devastates the school district, the people who were there at the scene and the community.”

According to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which released statistics last year, Route 27 (Sunrise Highway, CR-39 and Montauk Highway) and Route 27A (Montauk Highway) are among the other most dangerous roads for pedestrians to cross in Suffolk. Hempstead Turnpike, Jericho Turnpike and Merrick Road in Nassau also rank the highest.

Lead by Example

Even if you live in a relatively traffic-free neighborhood, the best way to ensure safety is by practicing at home—and by practicing often. “It’s vital that parents and childcare providers be models for proper pedestrian behavior,” explains Rosemarie Ennis coordinator of the Safe Kids Nassau County Coalition in Great Neck.

If your kids are new to exploring your neighborhood’s ins and outs, an excellent starting point is walking hand-in-hand across the street, making sure to look left, right and then left again. Leading by example is one of the easiest ways to foster safe behavior. Children are especially vulnerable to pedestrian injury because they’re not only harder for drivers to spot, they also lack the cognitive skills that adults possess in traffic situations.

“Children develop slowly over time their abilities to judge traffic, to judge how fast a car is coming towards them and to judge how much time they have to cross the street,” says Bottner. “Their impulsive tendencies are still there until about the age of 10.” That’s why it’s important to supervise—or enlist the help of a responsible neighbor—during your kids’ outdoor play time, especially if this involves crossing the street. Children should never be left unsupervised under the age of 10.

Scout out the safest routes, eliminating intersections and street crossings whenever possible. The best are those with sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian lights. “If there aren’t sidewalks, we teach kids to walk facing traffic, and to always walk as far to the left as possible. This will give them more time to react to traffic situations,” says Bottner.

At night or during bad weather make sure their clothing has retro-reflective material and they pack a charged flashlight for any activities that involve low-light situations. Adds Bottner, “They may not be out at night, but on a rainy or a foggy day, it might be harder for a car to see them.”

Steer Clear of Danger Zones

For non-walkers, Safe Kids USA also encourages parents to teach kids about the dangers of riding the bus to school. Children are most likely to be hit if they step inside what’s known as the bus “danger zone”—the area around the front, sides and back of a school bus that blocks the child from view. To be seen by the driver, the safest distance away from harm is 10 feet—or five large steps—in front of the bus. Instruct your kids to make eye contact with their bus driver if they have to cross the street.

Danger zones exist in other areas, too. Consider your child’s size in relation to the many different scenarios in a parking lot: drivers constantly searching for, pulling into or backing out of parking spaces. Neighborhoods are also hazardous, particularly on streets that are narrow, full of hills or brimming with parked cars. “Driveway safety is also essential,” explains Ennis. “Drivers must frequently check for children when backing out of a driveway or from a front yard parking space.”

For more tips and advice categorized by age visit www.safekids.org.

Leslie Fazin is the assistant editor of Long Island Parent magazine.