Get Your Kids on the Path to Safety
The goal of Safe Routes Utah is to help children get to and from school safely while motivating children to experience the benefits of walking or biking to school.
Why Let Your Child Walk or Bike to School?
The benefits include:
Improved Academics
Students who are healthy, awake and alert show improved academic performance and decreased tardiness and absence due to transportation challenges.
Physical Activity
Daily physical activity builds strong bones, muscles and joints. It forms healthy lifelong habits that decrease the risk of chronic disease and obesity.
Social Development
Spending time with family and community provides positive social opportunities.
Safer Students
Traffic safety instruction and practice increases confidence and safe behaviors. It also decreases dangerous traffic congestion during pickup and drop-off.
Cleaner Air
Walking and biking to school reduces the need for bus services and idling cars during pickup and drop-off.
Saves Time and Money
When you avoid driving your kids to school, you save on gasoline and wear and tear on your car.
Review These Pedestrian Basics for Halloween
Halloween is one of the most exciting nights of the year for kids, filled with costumes, candy, and adventure with friends. However, with all the fun comes an important responsibility: staying safe. Here are some essential tips to keep your kids safe while trick-or-treating.
FAQ: Walk & Roll Challenge
The Safe Routes Walk & Roll Challenge encourages students to walk, bike, or roll to school safely, with fun prizes for participation. Walking, biking, or rolling to and from school isn’t just fun, it also promotes physical wellness, improves cognitive abilities, teaches critical social skills, encourages independence, and lowers anxiety and depression. Additionally, it cuts down on traffic around school zones and helps improve our air quality!
A Champion for Traffic Safety
Safety has always been a big priority in the Jones household, so it was no surprise when Lincoln chose to research the history of the traffic light for his history project. Lincoln lives by a busy road and has witnessed many cars passing by his house daily. He has also heard many sirens rushing by to attend to crashes at the intersection close by. These observations, along with his mom being a crossing guard, sparked his interest in the importance of traffic lights and their role in preventing crashes.
Active All Summer: Summer Programs to Keep Kids Moving
Backpacks have been thrown into the closet, pens and pencils have been stowed away until next year, and school is officially out for summer! But, just because the school year has come to an end, doesn’t mean that you have to be cooped up in your house all summer long. Here are some fun, accessible activities and programs to help your kids stay active this summer.
Walk & Roll Challenge Winner Spotlight: Ella
Here at Safe Routes Utah, one of the best parts of the Walk & Roll Challenge is giving out prizes to kids and parents who walk or roll to school. We love seeing their smiles and knowing they love walking, biking or rolling to school as much as we do. Lauren and her daughter Ella, were one of many we’ve awarded so far this year.
Signs It’s Time to Upgrade Your Child’s Bike Gear
It’s important to check if your child is due for a new helmet or better fitting bike regularly. How do you know when it’s time to upgrade your child’s helmet and their bike? Let’s talk about a few ways you can tell.
There’s safety in numbers:
Start a walking group in your neighborhood
It’s like a carpool without the car. Coordinate times when the group will walk past each student’s house for pickup. Rotate parents who can walk with the group.