Pedestrian Safety

There are some things every pedestrian needs to know to stay safe while out and about in the community:

1. Stay on the sidewalk whenever you can.
2. If you have to walk or use your wheelchair in the road where there is no sidewalk, stay on the “shoulder.” This is the area on the far edge of the road, away from the middle.
3. If it is a two-way road, pedestrians should use the left edge.
4. Vehicles have right of way along a road, so pedestrians have to “yield” or move out of the way.
5. Use caution if you have a cell phone, headphones or some type of device in your ears, and sunglasses. You need to be able to see around you and hear if a car is coming.
6. Obey all traffic signs and signals.
7. Know where you are going and have ways to guide you or some way to contact help if you get lost.
8. Work with your team to get “travel training” to learn more about pedestrian safety.
9. Don’t take rides from a stranger.
10. Don’t interact with stray animals or wild animals.
11. Pay attention to what the vehicles around you are doing.
12. Pedestrians have to stop and wait for public safety vehicles, like police cars and ambulances to go by.
13. Look in all directions before crossing the street. The old saying used to be “Look both ways,” but now it is important to look right and left, look front and back, and then do those each again.
14. Be careful when going down alleys or small streets without sidewalks.