Pedestrian Safety

Pedestrian safety tips

Adults model safe walking for children.

• Cross at corners and crosswalks; use signals. Try to make eye contact with drivers before stepping in front of a vehicle.
• Look left, right, and left again; keep looking while crossing. Walk—do not run.
• Use sidewalks; if none, walk facing traffic, as far left as possible.
• Watch for turning and backing vehicles.
• Hold young children's hands in parking lots.

Set clear rules for children.

• Children under about 10 should not cross streets alone until they show strong traffic judgment.
• Choose routes with the fewest crossings.
• Teach crossing 10 feet in front of the school bus, never behind, and waiting on the correct side of the street.
• Teach children never to run into the street for a ball, pet, or toy.

Make the environment safer.

• Play in yards, parks, and playgrounds—not in the street. Separate play areas from driveways where possible.
• Use retro-reflective clothing and gear at dawn, dusk, and night.
• Walk around your vehicle before backing; watch for children every time.

Pedestrian safety community education and programs

Safe Kids Grand Forks works with schools, cities, law enforcement, and businesses to deliver pedestrian safety education across the region.

Grand Forks Public Schools, East Grand Forks Public Schools, the City of East Grand Forks, and Safe Kids have received Safe Routes to School funding focused on safer walking and biking to school.

Our programming includes:

• Back-to-school safety: Materials on getting to school safely for open houses and family packets, display boards, and events—often with partners such as Hugo's Family Marketplace in late summer.
• School-specific education: Each fall, schools can request assemblies, parent newsletters, or classroom resources tailored to their routes and needs.
• Crossing guard training: Short training for staff and volunteers, with CD-ROM materials, vests, and stop paddles provided to schools.
• AAA School Safety Patrol: Safe Kids has helped elementary schools launch AAA Safety Patrol programs—the first such district effort in North Dakota. Patrols guide pedestrians on school property, not traffic; they stay on sidewalks and curbs and work with adult crossing guards.
• Walk to Win: Altru Health System's long-running program encourages walking for health. Safe Kids, Walk to Win, and PE teachers have teamed up to promote walking to and from school, with friendly mileage challenges in the fall.
• Pedestrian improvement grants: Through FedEx, Safe Kids Worldwide, and similar opportunities, Safe Kids has funded environmental changes (traffic flow, sidewalks, studies, radar speed feedback signs) and education or equipment for schools.
• City partnerships: We collaborate with Grand Forks Streets and Sanitation, city engineering, the MPO, the Grand Forks Police Department, and schools in both cities on enforcement, engineering, and education.

Safe Routes to School maps

The Grand Forks–East Grand Forks Metropolitan Planning Organization publishes recommended safe routes to school. Safe routes consider sidewalks, crosswalks, signals, and speeds—not always the shortest path—and may change during construction.

View Safe Routes to School maps (The Forks MPO)