PennDOT, AAA, and Pittsburgh City Council promote road safety as school opens

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Soon enough, pretty much all kids in our area will be back to school.

PennDOT says there were over 260 pedestrian-related crashes in Allegheny County last year. Seventeen people died. As kids head back to school, it's a reminder for parents and drivers.

Road safety is something Pittsburgh City Councilperson Barb Warwick can't ignore.

"I'm a mother of four young kids and I am scared every day about my kids getting hit by a car," Warwick said. "I think it is the thing most parents are afraid of, right?"

That thing they're afraid of is why she, AAA and PennDOT gathered at the Propel School on Thursday. Kids there are coming back to the classroom.

"Our plea today is that every child please be alert, be visible and be safe as you're walking to and from school," Tiffany Stanley, AAA East Central spokesperson said.

The details of that plea include slowing down in school zones and being alert for people using crosswalks -- whether they're in kindergarten or high school. Also stop when the school bus door opens.

"You have to pay attention when the lights go off, and the bus starts to move, as a driver, then you start to move, not before," Donna McManus, school guard supervisor for the City of Pittsburgh's school crossing guards, said.

"Just because you're in a hurry, or you're late for work or you're late for an appointment, it doesn't work that way. It's to keep children safe," she added.

AAA considers students the most unpredictable of pedestrians, and we all have to do our job to watch out.

"These are people's children, these are people's babies," Tiffany Stanley, spokesperson for AAA East Central, said. "And we want to make sure that they are going to and from school safely."

For Councilperson Warwick, driver safety in any neighborhood would bring her peace of mind.

"If a ball rolls out in the street and a little kid runs out to get it, we should feel safe knowing that they're not risking getting killed," she said.

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