News Safe Kids Austin, FedEx, and the Safe Routes To School Project Team Up to Educate Children and Parents About Pedestrian Safety

Austin, Texas (October 8, 2008) - Safe Kids Austin, led by Dell Children's Medical Center, FedEx volunteers, and the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department's Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Project are hoping that pedestrian safety activities held on International Walk To School Day - Oct. 8, will help to make kids safer pedestrians in the Austin Metropolitan Area.

"This year we have planned several significant activities at 8 select elementary school in the Austin Independent School District, such as weekly pedestrian themed activities, coordinating walking schools buses, t-shirt design contest, and pedestrian safety lessons that we hope will be fun for the children as well as provide them the opportunity to learn about safe walking behaviors," said Tareka Wheeler, Safe Kids Austin Coordinator. "Pedestrian safety is a concern in our community and our hope is that we can teach children to be safer pedestrians in a way they will remember for years to come."

Road Traffic Injuries are the Leading Cause of Death among Young People Worldwide

According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death worldwide among young people aged 10-24 years. Each year nearly 400,000 people under 25 die on the world's roads - that's an average of more than 1,000 deaths each day. Most of these deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries and among vulnerable road users - pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and those using public transport.

In the United States, pedestrian injuries are the second leading cause of accidental death among children ages 5 to 14. Across the country each year, approximately 626 children ages 0 to 14 are killed and 38,500 sustain nonfatal pedestrian injuries. In 2006, there were 32,590 emergency room visits by children for pedestrian-related injuries.

International Walk to School Day Events Planned in Austin

This is the 8th year that Safe Kids Austin has sponsored activities for International Walk To School Day as part of the Safe Kids Walk This Way program. Some of the activities this year include:

• "Walk To School" Demonstration at McBee Elementary - 7:00 AM
• Press Conference at McBee Elementary - 8:15 AM
• Weekly themed activities scheduled for 8 select schools in the Austin Independent School District
• Pedestrian Safety Presentations for Kindergarten - 5th Graders

International Walk to School Day Events Planned in U.S.

This is the ninth year that Safe Kids USA and FedEx have joined together for the Safe Kids Walk This Way program, which began in the United States in 2000. Through the program, children learn about important behaviors for walking safely. This year, as part of the program in the United States, more than 150 Safe Kids coalitions across the country will hold local educational events, including press conferences, and mass walks to and from school, to shine a light on a particular pedestrian safety issue in their communities. Some important issues include unsafe intersections, barriers to walking, unmarked crossings streets where there are no safe sidewalks and dangerous areas where more than one pedestrian has either been hit or almost injured by a car.

For more information about the risk of child pedestrian injury in the United States, and other child safety issues, visit www.usa.safekids.org/wtw.

Safe Kids Austin works to prevent accidental childhood injury, the leading killer of children 14 and under. Its members include health and safety experts, educators, caregivers, State and Local agencies, and local corporations. Safe Kids Austin is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing accidental injury. Safe Kids Coalition was founded in 1993, and is lead by Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas.

The Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department's Safe Routes to School Project is funded by the Texas Department of Transportation. SRTS Project's goal is to enable and encourage children to walk and bicycle to school safely. Benefits to children and the community include increased physical activity, a reduction in traffic, and reductions in fuel consumption and air pollution

Safe Kids Walk This Way, a grassroots pedestrian safety initiative in more than 600 schools nationwide, is made possible through support from program sponsor FedEx. Through this year-round program, children learn safe pedestrian behaviors; school communities identify the pedestrian hazards surrounding their schools; and school pedestrian safety committees and task forces lead efforts to educate pedestrians and drivers about safe behaviors, enforce traffic laws and improve environments for child pedestrians.

International Walk to School Day is dedicated to walking to school with a purpose - to promote physical activity, safety, health and concern for the environment. International Walk to School Day is promoted nationally by The Partnership for a Walkable America. www.walktoschool.org.