Slow Down: Kids At Play – Kid Safety on the Road
I usually don’t talk about the unbelievably heart-breaking things I sometimes see at work, or the countless, amazing families I am blessed to meet every day. On a warm July night this year I was one of the many staff working at Sick Kids when I was witness to a parents worst nightmare, the preventable death of a child struck by a van on a Toronto street. I was immensely proud to be a physician at Sick Kids that night, as the first responders, doctors, nurses, and many health care providers supported the grieving family and one another in the aftermath.
In this instance, a grieving community has created a campaign to make our streets safer for our kids.
Much is written online about this horrifying event and the tragic death of Georgia Walsh. Sometimes a loss such as this enables a community to come together to find meaning in something so horrifying. In this instance, a grieving community has created a campaign to make our streets safer for our kids. I am so thankful that something amazing is coming of this unimaginable loss.
It is meant to remind us that we have to find a way for our streets and children to coexist safely.
If you live in the GTA you may have noticed one of the many signs on your neighbors lawns with the background of a boy and a girl either in black white or color. The colored imagery has a neighborhood streetscape within the child silhouette to highlight how the two are connected. It is meant to remind us that we have to find a way for our streets and children to coexist safely. Kid safety on the road is key. Inside the silhouette is a simple mantra – Slow Down, Kids At Play.
Click here for my full article on Reducing Child Fatalities on the Road.
Dina is a wife, mother of 4, and adrenaline junky. She loves to share children’s health information from her professional and personal experience. More About Dr Dina.
