Anytown Students Warn Pedestrians and Drivers: Watch For the Unexpected - The National Pedestrian Safety Campaign

Anytown Students Warn Pedestrians and Drivers: Watch For the Unexpected

Anytown, State* - The Anytown Pedestrian Safety Campaign continues this week with a special event aimed at educating pedestrians and drivers alike about factors to consider while walking or driving. On (day here), (date here), Anytown's City Hall front lawn will be a hub of activity. Area students will perform skits that demonstrate traffic incident scenarios in a way that emphasizes the need for pedestrians and drivers to watch out for each other.

Students will depict dangers such as cars that run red lights and pedestrians that cross without looking for cars. Sixth-grade student narrators will tell the accompanying stories that are all too familiar-drivers that are distracted, who fail to yield right of way, pedestrians that are in a hurry to cross or who dash out from behind parked cars only to find themselves in the direct path of a car that is passing.

"Our students and all of us are pedestrians each and every day" says Anytown Elementary Fourth Grade teacher Sherry Smith. "We want them to know that they must be aware, and that drivers may not always be looking out for them. They have created this performance to demonstrate the scenarios we've talked about. We're arming them to be safer pedestrians."

Tom Harper, a fifth-grade parent, thinks that his son Andre has grown through the project. Andre has also tried to educate his parents. "Andre came home with drawings and stories about traffic," Harper said. He has learned how the pedestrian signs and signals work; he even pointed out traffic rules that I need to follow!" Harper added.

Sergeant Paul Hill worked with the classes to help the students understand the importance of drivers and pedestrians looking out for each other. "I see crashes in Anytown every week that could have been avoided if the victims had been watching each other's movements. While we like to think that everyone else is looking out for us, the fact is, sometimes drivers do make left turns without looking to see if a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. Sometimes pedestrians start to cross the street without looking for cars that are headed their way. This event reminds both pedestrians and drivers to pay better attention-and that will help make walking safer for everyone."

The Pedestrian Safety City Hall performance is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and will wrap up by 3:00 p.m. with a traffic safety walk down Shirley Street. Observers are invited to participate and enjoy refreshments at Hooley Park following the walk.

For more information, please contact (Campaign Coordinator's name here) at (phone number) or (email address).

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