Threats that Await Teenage Pedestrians on the Road

MANY people don’t seem to realize that they need to be always aware of their surroundings in traffic. This applies particularly to teenagers. Their minds are often so full of matters concerning their social life that they forget just how dangerous roads can be.

Traffic accidents are a common cause of death among young people aged between 12 and 15. And research has shown that teenagers were especially at risk when out with friends and thinking about other things.

The problem is compounded when one takes into account that many young South Africans now own cellphones. Teenagers have been involved in accidents while distracted by conversations on the phone, listening to a walkman and running across the street to catch a bus.

The message from this is clear: these accidents would not have happened if young people paid more attention to the goings-on around them.

Many of us may not also know that being mainly a "car person" can make us bad pedestrians. Here again we find a situation that impacts heavily on teenagers. Parents tend to transport children around in the car so much these days that they don't get much experience of actually being a pedestrian.

In a car-based culture, even adults lose their sound pedestrian sense over time.

back