Right now, officials with the New York Department of Transportation are looking over all of the proposals for the Safe Routes to School funding. Awards are expected to be announced by mid-December.
The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is a local, state and federal effort that focuses on helping kids (and residents with disabilities) to get to and from school and other destinations safely. The effort focuses on pedestrians and bicyclists. Areas in the state recently submitted proposals to the Department of Transportation to try to snag some attention and some funds to make roadways safer. In New York City — where half of all fatal accidents involve pedestrians — it’s a critical safety issue.
Our Queens child injury lawyers understand that, in New York, travel to and from school on foot and on bicycles has declined in the last few decades. With less people traveling this way, we’ve got more motor vehicle traffic running and that comes with a lot of traffic, a dip in air quality, a spike in our children’s weight and a significant and alarming dip in their health.
According to transportation officials, the goal of this Safe Routes to School Program is to help communities in the state to create and implement programs and projects that encourage more residents (especially our younger ones) to walk and bike to school. The program works to also make these trips safer for them.
Safe Routes to School programs that have succeeded elsewhere in the United States have included one or more of these approaches: encouragement, education, enforcement and engineering.
Regional and local government, communities, schools and non-profit organizations are encouraged to apply for this funding.
“SRTS programs across the country are increasing the number of students walking and bicycling to school, and this research reveals some of the ways they did it, which is important for two reasons,” said Lauren Marchetti with Safe Routes to School.
In 2009, there were nearly 15,000 child pedestrians who were injured in motor vehicle accidents in the United States. On average, there are close to 400 of these young pedestrians who are killed in these kinds of accidents every year, too! Many of these accidents could have been completely prevented if pedestrians were offered safer routes to where they’ve got to go. All too often, they’re forced to walk along roadways designed for fast-traveling vehicles.
While transportation officials work to get the funding needed to enact programs and precautions to keep these young ones safe, we’re calling on motorists’ help. Keep an eye out for pedestrians when traveling through neighborhoods, near schools and all other areas where children are present. You can help to keep these young ones safe. Remember — they may not always keep safety as a first priority, and that’s why we need to do it for them.
Contact the New York injury attorneys at the Law Offices of Nicholas Rose, PLLC, for a free consultation to discuss your case if you or a loved one has been injured in an accident. Call 1-877-313-ROSE (7673).
More Blog Entries:
New York Injury Watch: If Child Had Food Allergies, Pace v State of Maryland Says Pack Your Children’s Lunch, New York Injury Lawyer Blog, March 11, 2012
Reports: Children Risk Injury in New York with Bumbo Seats, New York Injury Lawyer Blog, February 20, 2012
