Community Commentary:

Incidents of students being injured while traveling to school seem to be on the rise. As a school board member, a parent and a concerned citizen, I am appalled and extremely concerned.

Has our traffic increased that much over the last few years? Are speeds increasing while drivers have many more distractions? Are students not practicing the old adage “Stop, look and listen” anymore? What are other contributing factors we should address?

Also of concern is the lack of responsibility among the involved drivers. This week, there were two separate accidents reported to the Huntington Beach City School District where students sustained mild injuries on their way to school.

While those drivers did initially stop, because the students indicated they were fine, the drivers, according to reports, felt free to leave the scene. This is not right.

The involved student is obviously not the best determiner as to their condition, and a person old enough to drive a car should be able to recognize their responsibility to report the incident and remain on the scene.

I don’t know what it will take to educate the local drivers, but there is something that we all can do to help reduce and hopefully eliminate accidents from the pedestrian side: emphasize safety procedures to our children who will be walking and riding bikes to school. Both parents and educators can take on this responsibility.

Practicing basic safety such as stopping and looking for oncoming cars, even in crosswalks, listening for traffic, knowing the rules of the road for bicycle riding and maintaining constant awareness of their surroundings (no iPod earbuds, no looking down at text messages, etc., while walking/cycling) is what our children can do to keep themselves safe. As pedestrians, if we can’t control what drivers might do, we can at least control our own awareness and take charge of our own safety. As citizens, we need to become involved and make sure our roads are safe and that our local laws are protecting our children.

ROSEMARY SAYLOR is a Huntington Beach resident and the president of the Huntington Beach City School District’s Board of Trustees.