Help keep kids safe on Halloween

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of occasional columns for the Daily Herald by the Elgin Police Department.

By Officer Lorenz Burkert

Elgin Police Department

I have been a police officer with the city of Elgin for 27 years, and I have been in the Traffic Unit for seven years. One of my main goals is to increase pedestrian safety and awareness, especially for our children.

I want all of the children in our community to be able to safely walk to schools, parks and their friends' houses. Unfortunately, children continue to be at risk for unintentional injury as pedestrians. I would like to offer some tips for children and drivers as to how to remain safe, especially as Halloween approaches.

Did you know that until children reach the age of 10 they do not have fully developed depth perception? This means that their ability to determine the speed and distance of oncoming vehicles is limited. They may engage in behavior that is risky without realizing the full ramifications of their decisions.

Drivers should always be aware of children, especially when kids are walking, playing, or congregating near bus stops. Obey school zone speed limits. As quick as children can be, you can imagine how driving distracted can have serious consequences when a split second reaction may be required. This is why my unit aggressively enforces distracted driving laws in the city of Elgin. The stakes are too high not to.

There are steps we can all take to help keep our pedestrians safe. Before everyone goes out to trick-or-treat, take the time to refresh your kids on some basic rules to help keep them safe. They get excited about costumes and candy and sometimes forget the basics:

• Cross streets at corners and at crosswalks. Be sure to look left, right and left again, see that tires have stopped, and make eye contact with drivers before you cross.

• Never walk out into the street between parked cars.

• Wear light-colored clothing or a reflecting device. Carrying a flashlight is also recommended.

• Do not let children younger than the age of 10 cross streets on their own. Supervise them and be a good role model for safe pedestrian practices.

In addition to obeying traffic laws and crosswalk protocols, drivers need to be very aware of the potential for children passing behind their vehicles as they are backing out of driveways and parking spaces.

Back-over incidents have become increasingly more common as vehicles are bigger and have large blind zones behind them. Tragically, nationwide, four out of five driveway-related incidents involved children ages 4 and younger.

We ask everyone to slow down, stay alert and be mindful of pedestrians. Let us all do our part to make sure our children get where they are going as safely as possible.

If you have questions for me, I can be reached at (847) 289-2662.