Baton Rouge- Polk Elementary students learned important safety cross walk guidelines during the observance of International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 3.  Volunteers from Louisiana State Police, the Safety Council, ICARE, the Office of Public Health, the Department of Transportation and Federal Express helped to celebrate this “safety holiday” which calls attention to pedestrian safety issues.

More than 250 students attended an assembly where Louisiana State Trooper Johnnie Brown demonstrated the correct way to walk in a cross walk and provided important tips on which direction to walk when there is no sidewalk.  “The things I am telling you today can help save your life,” Brown explained.

Each year in the United States more than 630 children are killed and thousands are treated in emergency rooms as a result of pedestrian injuries.  Statistics also show that children living in highly populated areas are most at-risk for these types of injuries. “Parents,  caregivers  and teachers need to be aware of influencing factors for  children  when  they  are walking and address those when teaching them about  pedestrian  safety,” says Crystal Pichon of Safe Kids Baton Rouge and the Safety Council.

Through the year-round Safe Kids Walk This Way Program, safe walking behaviors are reinforced to students.  “We hope that kids will tell their parents the correct way to approach a cross walk when driving,” says Susan Thornton of ICARE.

Safe Kids Walk This Way is a grassroots pedestrian safety initiative in more than 500 schools nationwide.