Special Town Built for Kids in Florida Teaches Pedestrian Safety

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on October 13, 2011

Orlando personal injury attorneys, public safety officials, Central Florida law enforcement agencies and many others are very excited about a new way to teach children about pedestrian safety. The Children’s Safety Village in Orlando has taught at least 8,000 children from Central Florida counties how to be safe when crossing or walking near streets and highways, and the program has inspired other communities to build their own safety villages. Safety village designers are proactively protecting the lives of area children and helping to combat the Orlando area’s reputation as the most dangerous place in the country for pedestrians.

Mike Burske is the administrator of the latest safety village being built in Lady Lake. He is pitching the idea to other communities and has had some success inspiring others to aggressively increase pedestrian safety for children.

"If we’re doing our job correctly, a kid doesn’t get killed, and we’ll never have to meet a child or parent going through that," he said recently.

While safety villages built on a smaller scale for children are certainly a step in the right direction to reduce pedestrian accidents in our area, much remains to be done to make streets and highways safer for kids. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, hundreds of children aged nine and younger are injured each year in Florida pedestrian accidents. In 2010, 16 children in this age group were struck and killed by automobiles while walking, which was the highest number since 2007.

In a well-publicized report issued last May, the transportation group Transportation for America ranked the Orlando area the most dangerous place in the country for pedestrian accidents. The ranking inspired the Orlando City Council to award $42,000 to the non-profit group Bike/Walk Central Florida this month to begin a driver education program about pedestrian safety.

Orlando personal injury lawyer James O. Cunningham fully supports our city’s Safety Village and any other measures that protect and prevent our children from becoming pedestrian accident statistics. If you’re the parent of a child injured in a pedestrian accident and would like to learn more about your legal options, call Orlando pedestrian accident lawyer James O. Cunningham today at 888-425-2004 or 407-425-2000 to schedule a free consultation.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.