 Accidental injury is one of the
leading causes of death in children under age 14, and pedestrian injury is one of the main
types of accidental injury. In response, Safe Kids Summit County is joining with the City
of Akron to identify and upgrade crosswalks throughout Akron. The initiative was announced
during a press conference by Safe Kids and Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic at Glover
Elementary School this morning.Glover is the school
attended by 10 year old Tony Swain who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while
in a crosswalk near the school last fall. Tony pushed his sister out of the way and to
safety before being struck. That crosswalk, on Hammel Street will be the first to be
upgraded through the Safe Kids initiative.
The program will first target the most dangerous crosswalks as determined by the City
traffic engineer with assistance from the Safe Kids organization. Safe Kids has performed
detailed, objective research of city crossings and is currently assessing the risks
associated with dangerous crosswalks around Akron-area elementary schools, including
environmental obstacles and driver and pedestrian behavior.
"Pedestrian safety is an issue in the Akron area, especially for students who walk
to and from school," said Lisa Pardi, R.N., injury prevention coordinator at Akron
Children’s Hospital and coordinator of Safe Kids Summit County. "According to
our recent assessments, Safe Kids found more than a third of drivers were engaged in some
type of distractive behavior while driving through crosswalks. Fortunately, 75 percent of
the students we observed were paying attention to the directions of the adult crossing
guard and student patrol guard."
The City of Akron will provide the funding for the program, said the mayor. "Last
fall we announced that some monies collected from our speed enforcement camera citations
will go to upgrade crosswalks, and we’d like to get started. That’s why we are
so grateful for the hard work of the Safe Kids Coalition to help identify the areas we
will target first. There efforts have helped speed up this process." Along with other
noticeable improvements, the crosswalks will have diagonal stripes painted over their
entire length to make them more visible to drivers and pedestrians.
Safe Kids Summit County will continue its efforts to make streets safer for children
through the promotion of educational programs, environmental changes and stricter law
enforcement in and around school zones.
"Accidental injuries are, in most cases, preventable," said Lisa Pardi.
"We want to educate children and their parents about ways to keep children safe from
preventable accidents. We hope that by working on programs such as this, the community
will take a greater interest in the safety of our children."
About Safe Kids Summit County:
Safe Kids Summit County is one of more than 280 Safe Kids coalitions throughout the United
States. The Summit County coalition, sponsored by Akron Children’s Hospital, began in
1992. It comprises a number of county-wide agencies and organizations concerned with the
health and safety of youth. Safe Kids Summit County promotes and implements strategies to
prevent childhood injuries through community awareness, education and public policy
changes.
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For more information, contact:
Karen Gaines or Laurie Schueler
(330) 543-3400 |
