SAFE KIDS to Release New National Study on Stop Sign Compliance
D.C. SAFE KIDS, Dignitaries, Health Advocates and FedEx Express
Volunteers Walk to School for Safety with Children on International
Walk to School Day (Oct. 8)
**** PHOTO OPPORTUNITY ****
WHEN: Wednesday, October 8, 2003
PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
8:15 a.m. - Volunteers, dignitaries and FedEx employee
volunteers begin walking to school with kids
9:05 a.m. - News conference begins in multi-purpose room of
school
WHERE: Truesdell Elementary
800 Ingraham Street NW
Washington, D.C.
WHO: Martin Eichelberger, M.D., founder/president, National SAFE
KIDS Campaign
Dave Bronczek, CEO, FedEx Express
Mary Peters, administrator, Federal Highway Administration
(invited)
Marianne Lamont Horinko, acting administrator, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Karen A. Johnson, assistant secretary, U.S. Department of
Education
Carolyn Graham, deputy mayor, District of Columbia
Charles Ramsey, police chief, District of Columbia
Adrian Fenty, council member, Ward 4
Eleanor Holmes Norton, congresswoman, District of Columbia
Ingra Lewis, Mother of pedestrian crash victim
WHAT: As part of International Walk to School Day, D.C. SAFE KIDS and
FedEx Express will be walking children to school and noting
pedestrian hazards that exist along the way. The walk will come
one day after the National SAFE KIDS Campaign releases a
national survey on motorist behavior at stop signs.
The goal is to teach students safe pedestrian behaviors,
encourage more parents to walk with their children, identify
pedestrian hazards and enforce traffic laws. The problems
identified in the neighborhood surrounding the school will
guide the coalition's efforts to make it safer for child
pedestrians.
After the walk, employee volunteers from FedEx Express will
visit 3rd and 4th grade classes to further teach safe
pedestrian behaviors to students.
WHY: In 2000, 706 children ages 14 and under died from pedestrian-
related injuries, making it the second leading cause of
unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5 to 14.
In a recent observational survey, SAFE KIDS found that nearly
60 percent of parents and kids encountered serious hazards on
their routes to school. Common hazards included a lack of
sidewalks or crosswalks, wide roads, complicated traffic
conditions, improper parking and speeding drivers.
SAFE KIDS is releasing a national survey on stop sign compliance on October 7, 2003. The survey examines the frequency of driver compliance with stop signs at unsignalized, marked and unmarked pedestrian crosswalks near schools and in residential areas. For more information or for a copy of the survey, contact the National SAFE KIDS Campaign's communications department at (202) 662-0600 or visit www.safekids.org
The D.C. SAFE KIDS Coalition is part of the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the first and only national nonprofit organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury -- the number one killer of children ages 14 and under. More than 300 state and local SAFE KIDS coalitions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico comprise the Campaign.
Additional International Walk to School Day Events in D.C.: Watkins Elementary 420 12th Street SE Morning walk to school begins at approximately 8:15 a.m. from Lincoln Park, located at 13th and East Capitol streets Peabody Elementary 425 C Street NE Morning walk to school begins at approximately 8:15 a.m. from Lincoln Park, located at 13th and East Capitol streets Stuart Hobson Elementary 410 E Street NE Morning walk to school begins at approximately 8:15 a.m. from Lincoln Park, located at 13th and East Capitol streets McGogney Elementary 3400 Wheeler Road SE Afternoon walk home begins at approximately 3:15 p.m.
PRNewswire -- Oct. 7