How To Avoid A New Haven Pedestrian Accident When Driving Near Children

School is out of session for the summer and that means that there will be many more children out and about on the city streets.  While it is important that children need to be taught how to play near streets and around traffic safely, it is also important for you, as the driver of a motor vehicle to take extra care in avoiding a New Haven pedestrian accident when driving around kids.

Kids will be much more prevalent along New Haven streets in the next few months and you will want to drive with caution, especially in neighborhoods.  To keep kids safe it is important to take some extra precautionary measures while you’re driving and keep in mind that kids will likely not be as educated or as aware as adult pedestrians when interacting with cars and therefore it becomes even more incumbent upon you to take precaution into your own hands.

When you are driving through the streets of the city you should keep some of the following things about kids in mind so you can take extra care to keep them safe and out of harms ways;

1.) Kids are much smaller than the average pedestrian.  When an adult is walking along a busy city street they are hard to miss, but when a child is following the same route they may be easily missed.   Kids can often be hidden behind buildings or cars and could appear at a moments notice and startle you as the driver.  If you are not paying close attention and driving at a reasonable speed you may miss a child and an accident may occur.

2.) Children are unpredictable.  When kids are playing near the street they are often not paying attention to their surroundings and therefore have a tendency to quickly and unexpectedly run out into traffic.  Kids might be going to get a ball that is rolling across the street without looking or running to find a hiding spot during a game of hide and seek without thinking about the fact that they may be crossing into a busy street.  When you are driving through an area where kids may be you need to be prepared for the unexpected.

3.) Kids engage in group think and may travel in “packs.”  Large groups of kids often, not always, but often make decisions together which can lead to peer pressure and in some cases bad decisions that can put the entire group of kids into dangerous situations.  It is for this reason that, as the driver of a vehicle, you may need to take into account the fact that the entire group may move together and there is a chance that they will do things that are dangerous and require you to pay close attention to their movements until you pass them by.

There is nothing sweeter then the sound of kids laughing and playing until the sun goes down during the summer months throughout the city, but there are situations where these kids can put themselves in dangerous positions.  As a driver, you should take extra care to keep in mind that children are not the same as adults when they are moving through the city and taking those differences into account can help you avoid a New Haven pedestrian accident.

If you or a loved one were injured in an accident you may need to speak with an experienced attorney to discuss your situation.  Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will speak with you regarding the particular details of what you experienced.  Our attorneys will work to understand your situation and look to protect your long-term interests.