From May 1 to 15, six children were admitted to Cook Children’s and two were treated and released from the Emergency Department. Last month, nine kids were admitted to Cook Children’s. Seven were admitted and two were treated and released.

Maybe it’s distracted drivers or maybe it’s the nicer weather. Regardless, it’s up to adults to keep an eye out for children walking or riding their bikes outside and not the other way around.

In the fiscal year of 2015, 34 kids were injured in auto-pedestrian collisions. The number increased to 49 in 2016 and more than 30 kids have already been injured this year.

“We’ve never seen numbers like we have so far and it’s not even the summer time, when more kids will be outside playing. Children do not have the cognitive skills to be crossing streets safely alone until at least age 10,” said Sharon Evans, Trauma Injury Prevention outreach coordinator at Cook Children’s. “They haven’t yet developed the depth perception or the ability to maturely judge the speed of an object.”

Kids age 10 and younger should not walk or ride bicycles, scooters or skateboards alone because they:

• Are easily distracted by friends and toys.
• Can’t determine the direction of sounds. Some children may be listening for sounds and may not realize that some newer model electric/hybrid may not make much of a sound at all.
• Can’t judge the speed or distance of a moving vehicle.
• Don’t understand how long it takes a vehicle to stop.
• Have too narrow a field of vision.

Even when kids reach age 10, it’s still best for parents to accompany them across the street, or to school whenever possible.

Teaching Your Child Pedestrian Safety

“When I visit children who have suffered pedestrian injuries, the most common thing they tell me is that they thought the driver saw them,” explained Evans. “It’s important to teach your children that just because they see a driver, it doesn’t mean the driver sees them. They need to make eye contact with the driver and wait for the driver to stop and signal to them before attempting to cross the street.”

While teaching your children to ride their bikes or walk outside, don’t forget to tell them to cross only at crosswalks; look left, right and then left again; and to watch for cars that are turning or backing up. The best way to teach your child pedestrian and bike safety is to be a good role model yourself. It’s also a good idea to encourage your children to wear bright clothing and reflectors when they’re walking before dawn or after dusk.

"It’s important for parents to remember they are the most important models of proper pedestrian behavior for children," said Dana Walraven, Community Health Outreach manager at Cook Children’s and Safe Kids Tarrant County Coordinator. "Parents should also make sure they follow the rules when they are driving in school zones, including going the speed limit at all times through the zone and not texting or talking on the phone."

Safe Kids recommend teaching your kids these safe behaviors:

• Look left, right and left again before crossing the street. Cross when the street is clear, and keep looking both ways while crossing. Walk, don’t run.
• Understand and obey traffic signals and signs.
• Walk facing traffic, on sidewalks or paths, so that you can see oncoming cars. If there are no sidewalks, walk as far to the left as possible.
• Require children to carry a flashlight at night, dawn and dusk. Add retro-reflective materials to children’s clothing so that a child can be seen by motorists, even in the dark.
• Don’t let kids play in driveways, unfenced yards, streets or parking lots. Drivers may not see or anticipate children playing.

For more information:

Bicycle Safety

Vehicle/Car Safety

According to noheatstroke.org, 32 children have died in the U.S. as a result of being left in a car. In all of 2015, 24 kids died.

On Sept. 21, 2016, a 7-month-old baby died in a hot car in Huntsville, Ala. The temperature was 94 degrees. The following day, a 4-month-old child died in Geronimo, Okla. The temperature at the time was 96 degrees.

As anyone who lives in a state like Texas can attest, summer-like temperatures can occur even in winter. But it doesn’t take a scorching hot day for a child to be in danger. Heatstroke deaths have been recorded in 11 months of the year in nearly all 50 states.

“It truly doesn’t have to be a ‘hot’ day in Texas for a death to occur,” said Dana Walraven, Community Health Outreach manager at Cook Children’s and Safe Kids Tarrant County coordinator. “The temperature inside a vehicle can quickly climb over 20 degrees hotter than outdoor temperature. So even a cool day in Texas can become dangerous very quickly. Since children’s body heat rises three to five times faster than adults, it’s important to know that temperatures can become deadly any time of year.

Heatstroke, also known as hyperthermia, is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths for children. It occurs when the body isn’t able to cool itself quickly enough and the body temperature rises to dangerous levels.

Young children are particularly at risk as their bodies heat up three to five times faster than an adult’s. When a child’s internal temperature gets to 104 degrees, major organs begin to shut down. And when that child’s temperature reaches 107 degrees, the child can die.

Because of this, and because cars heat up so quickly – 19 degrees in 10 minutes – tragedies can happen faster than you think. Symptoms can quickly progress from flushed, dry skin and vomiting to seizures, organ failure and death.

“We still have to get the word out that there’s never a safe time to leave your child in the car,” said Sharon Evans,Trauma/Injury Prevention coordinator at Cook Children’s, said. “We’ve seen children die in February. We hope people will take extra precaution in never leaving a child in the car.”

Safe Kids Worldwide says that heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle related deaths for children and that young children are particularly at risk as their bodies heat up three to five times faster than an adults’.

It’s hard to imagine someone forgetting a child is in the car, but human error, and people make these mistakes during their busy day-to-day lifestyle. Safe Kids recommend the “ACT” method to prevent tragedy to your child or to a child you see left in a car:

• A: Avoid heatstroke-related injury and death by never leaving your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. And make sure to keep your car locked when you’re not in it so kids don’t get in on their own.
• C: Create reminders by putting something in the back of your car next to your child such as a briefcase, a purse or a cell phone that is needed at your final destination. This is especially important if you’re not following your normal routine.
• T: Take action. If you see a child alone in a car, call 911. Emergency personnel want you to call. They are trained to respond to these situations. One call could save a life.

For more information

Cook Children's partners with the community to raise awareness and meet learning needs centered around injury prevention and child safety equipment. Read more about it here.