The School Traffic Safety Committee was formed to address the unique school-related traffic safety issues that occur at and near the various Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) facilities within the City of Elk Grove (COEG). The Committee includes representatives from the EGUSD, the COEG, the Elk Grove Police Department and the EGUSD Safety and Security Division.
The primary duty of the committee is to discuss traffic related issues that are affecting the community and to look for effective solutions to solve or mitigate these problems by using the following methods:
- Education: teaches students important safety skills and launches driver safety campaigns.
- Encouragement: uses events and contests to entice students to try walking and biking.
- Engineering: focuses on creating physical improvements to the infrastructure surrounding the school, reducing speeds and establishing safer crosswalks and pathways.
- Enforcement: uses local law enforcement to ensure drivers obey traffic laws.
- Evaluation: includes monitoring and documenting outcomes, attitudes and trends through the collection of data before and after the intervention(s). All approaches benefit from evaluation to sustain and improve.
Information related to the committee's activities will be posted on the EGUSD and COEG websites. If you have concerns or requests regarding traffic safety at or near an EGUSD facility, please contact the Traffic Safety Committee by sending an email to jbolfango@elkgrovepd.org.
Getting to School Safely
By Walking — Crossing the Street
- Walk to school with a group of kids and always have a responsible adult walk with you.
- Always walk on the sidewalk if one is available.
- If no sidewalk is available, walk facing the traffic.
- The safest place to cross is at a street corner or intersection.
- If you are 10 years old or younger, you need to cross the street with an adult. You should not cross by yourself. Ask an adult to tell you who can help you cross the street.
- Before you step off the curb to cross the street, stop and look left-right-left to see if cars
- are coming. Do you know your left from your right? If you do, that is great! If you don’t, here is a hint: when you hold your left hand up, your thumb and first finger will make the letter “L,” and that stands for “left.”
- When no cars are coming, it is safe for you and an adult to cross. But look left-right-left as you do it, and hold the adult’s hand.
By Riding Your Bicycle
- The best and smartest bicycle riders always wear their bicycle helmets! They know that bicycle helmets will keep their heads and brains safe. Are you one of the best and smartest riders?
- Ask an adult to make sure that your helmet fits correctly. The helmet should fit low on your forehead so that two fingers fit between it and your eyebrows. Another way to check is to put the helmet on your head and look up. If you can’t see your helmet, it is too far back.
- To ride safely, you need to know the rules of the road. Do you know what “the rules of the road” are for bicycles? If you don’t, then you should not ride in traffic or without an adult.
- When you ride your bicycle, wearing a helmet helps to keep you safe. You should also wear bright colors during the day, and right before the sun rises or sets. This makes it easier for drivers to see you, and that helps to keep you safe, too.
- Riding at night can be dangerous. If you have to ride your bicycle at night, you should ride with an adult. You should also have a white light on the front of your bicycle and a red reflector on the back. You can also get lights and reflective materials to put on your shoes, helmet and clothing. When light hits this material at night, it glows and makes it easier for a driver to see you!
- Practice makes you more skilled at riding your bicycle. The more skilled you are at riding, the less likely you will be to crash. Practice riding skills in an empty parking lot or a place with no traffic. Practice such things as riding in a straight line, looking over your shoulder, signaling with your hands, and starting and stopping.
Halloween Safety Tips
- Be sure older children take friends and younger children are accompanied by a trusted adult when “Trick or Treating.”
- Accompany younger children to the door of every home they approach and make sure parents and guardians are familiar with every home and all people from which the children receive treats.
- Teach children to never enter a home without prior permission from their parents or guardians.
- Teach children to never approach a vehicle, occupied or not, unless they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.
- Make sure all children wear reflective clothing and carry a glow stick when out at dusk and at night.
- Make sure children are able to see and breathe properly and easily when using facial masks. All costumes and masks should be clearly marked as flame resistant.
- Teach children to never approach a home that is not well lit both inside and outside.
- Teach children to stay alert for any suspicious incidents and report them to their parents, guardians, and/or the proper authority.
- Teach children if anyone tries to grab them to make a scene; loudly yell “This person is not my father/mother/guardian”; and make every effort to get away by kicking, screaming, and resisting.
- Consider organizing or attending parties at home, in schools, or in community centers as a good alternative to “Trick or Treating.”