Teach Your Child To Cross The Street Safely

No matter how young your children might be, it is never too early to teach them about how to safely cross the road at intersections. Even the simplest rules and most basic common sense can save your child from a pedestrian accident that results in serious injury or death. Here are some quick pedestrian safety tips:

· Cross at marked crosswalks whenever possible.

· Make contact with any drivers who are stopped in the intersection.

· Don't run across the street.

· Don't dart out from behind objects into the road.

· Look both ways before crossing.

· If a car is approaching in the distance, try to gauge its speed before crossing.

· Never assume a car will stop for you.

· Don't stop looking to your left and right while making your way across the street.

· Enlist the help of a cross guard if there is one.

· Listen for cars before crossing the street.

Did Senator Orrin Hatch Clip A Pedestrian With His Car In Washington DC?

Washington, DC, has always been dangerous to pedestrians - but usually it's not the country's Senators driving. However, on June 11, a number of sources reported that Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah grazed a pedestrian in a crosswalk while driving in the capital this week.

According to multiple sources, the 75-year-old senator clipped a woman walking in a designated crosswalk during a thunderstorm in Washington on Tuesday night. The woman was not injured in the pedestrian accident, although the car did hit the woman according to several witnesses to the event.

"I was mortified. I didn't see her at all. I said, 'I didn't see you. I'm so sorry,'" Hatch told the Washington Post. "She seemed OK. I felt really badly about it."

Hatch said that he called the police to report the near-accident, but the police could not find an incident report in connection with the pedestrian accident.

DC Gets the Inauguration Right

The Inauguration of Barack Obama is now over, and the 1.2 million people who flooded into our hometown are now gone. The Mall has been cleaned up, the Hotels are back to having rooms available, and D.C. can now go back to what passes for normal around here.

While the inauguration was amazing enough, what strikes us as even more important was that nobody got hurt.

Car accidents and pedestrian accidents happen in DC constantly, and they happen whether Congress is in session or not, or if the President is in town or not, or if the Supreme Court is in session or not, or if the Wizards, Capitals, or Nationals are in town or not.

The fact that so many people were in town and there were no reported car wrecks and no reported pedestrian accidents is a testament to how well planned the ceremony was.  Everyone involved should be proud of themselves.

Bike Safety is More Important Than Ever

With gas in the neighborhood of $4 a gallon, more people are choosing to walk or bike to work. With more bikes and pedestrians on the street, the public probably needs a refresher course on bicycle safety.

The Post recently put out an article that gives a pretty good rundown on how to share the roads responsibly. Follow the link below to see the article.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/07/23/DI2008072302245.html