Young students practicing safety behavior for pedestrians Photo: SSF
In an effort to promote safe walking and bicycling in the City, South San Francisco sponsored a Safe Routes to School program at Los Cerritos Elementary School. Designed to create awareness about pedestrian safety, the one-day program aims to improve pedestrian- and bicycle safety nationwide by educating students on common rules, signals, and practices for crossing streets. Safe Routes to School provided six demonstrations for twelve classes ranging from Kindergarten to the fifth grade at Los Cerritos Elementary School.
“Our goal is to help students become aware of their surroundings when they’re walking on sidewalks or crossing streets,” said Safe Routes to School Teaching Coordinator Diane Serafini. “Today is all about teaching the kids pedestrian- and bicycle safety how to become more visible, and how to be safe and polite while doing it. We want them to develop good habits so that they become good citizens on the road.”
During the event, program leaders depicted two South San Francisco blocks on the schoolyard blacktop to replicate a familiar environment using chalk-drawn streets and road signs. Focusing on awareness, program leaders provided instructions on bicycle and pedestrian safety, training students to pay close attention of surroundings and to use common hand signals when alerting motorists to come to a full stop.
The Safe Routes to School program was funded through the City’s Capital Improvement Program. South San Francisco also plans to make roadway improvements by Los Cerritos Elementary School, adding a radar speed feedback sign and sidewalk curb extensions to increase pedestrian safety on West Orange Avenue at B and C Streets.
For more information, contact Associate Civil Engineer Lawrence Henriquez at (650) 829-6663.
