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.
Five Tips to Get Your Child to Wear a Helmet
We love spreading the message of street safety any time we get an opportunity. But during these warmer months, we especially love to emphasize helmet use while riding bikes, scooters and anything with wheels.
3 Active Things To Do With Kids This Summer
Slipping into summer mode probably means less routine and a little less stress for a few months. While some summer days are for lounging, they’re also for adventure and summer activities. If you’re looking for ways to get out of the house and keep the kids active, we have three things to try this summer.
School Zone Dangers You May Not Know About
Do we, as parents, recognize the potential risks, or even the unsafe example and expectations we may unintentionally set for our children?
Walk & Roll Tips From ‘Utah With Kids’
If you’re like us, you love Utah and all of the exciting activities it has to offer. Our friend Kyra feels the same. She runs the Instagram account Utah With Kids, and specializes in finding all the best kid-friendly things to do in Utah, including Safe Routes. Just like every mom, Kyra knows how incredibly busy mornings can be during the school year. She shared some tips on how she makes it all work, so her kiddos get all the rewards from being active as well as a chance to win sweet prizes.
Protect your Noggin. No Helmet, No ride.
Let the outdoor festivities and activities begin! Now is the perfect time to get your little ones walking and rolling to school. If your child likes to ride their own wheels to school, let’s make sure they don’t leave the house without their trusty headgear.
The Dangers of Construction Sites and What We’re Doing to Keep Our Kids Safe
Construction zones are common throughout Utah and can be extremely dangerous for young people. The Safe Routes Utah outreach team educates elementary aged kids about the dangers in these areas through an interactive assembly called, “Think Safety.” It teaches concepts about safety through play and is designed to mitigate their curiosity around construction zones. Students leave knowing to steer clear of these areas and to remain alert and attentive when passing by.
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.