Educator Resources for Pedestrian Safety
Pedestrian safety is always a concern in our state. Our mild weather and our goals for a healthier lifestyle make walking one of the best ways to get around daily.
With that, comes the concern of how to teach the children in our State how to be safe as they walk to school or to their favorite spot in the neighborhood.
The Department of Transportation’s Walk Wise Hawaii (WWH) and its partners at the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services (DTS), the four county Police Departments and Safe Routes to School have the tools to help you educate the kids on how to be an akamai pedestrian in Hawaii. These tools were created in Hawaii by its people, using our State’s data to target the pedestrian safety issues that we experience here.
Printable Resources
DTS has cute interactive coloring books for elementary aged children called the ‘Walk Smart Activity Book’ (click on the link for a downloadable PDF version).
You may have seen their “Be Safe Be Seen on Halloween” which gets distributed by the Department of Education to various Oahu elementary public schools around Halloween.
If you don’t receive one on Halloween, they are available here in the following grade levels:
You can print them out or request copies through:
Dustin Malama
Department of Transportation Services
City & County of Honolulu
808-768 – 8395
[email protected]
For older students, especially those in the Driver’s Education Program, the Walk Wise and Drive Wise brochures provide great information on how to be safe pedestrians and how drivers can be more aware of pedestrians on the roadways.
Walk Wise Hawaii Brochure (English) – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/files/2018/03/2016-WWH-Brochure.pdf
The Walk Wise Brochure is available in a Multi-language version with the following languages:
Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Tagalog, Ilocano, Marshallese, Chuukese, Samoan, Vietnamese, and Spanish.
Walk Wise Hawaii Brochure (Multi-language) – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/files/2018/03/2017-WWH-Multi-language-brochure.pdf
Drive Wise Hawaii Brochure (English) – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/files/2013/01/Blue-Drivewise-Brochure.pdf
For more on Walk Wise Hawaii – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/safe-communites/walkwisehawaii/
Another great printable resource comes from the Honolulu Police Department, this brochure educates pedestrians and drivers on the laws regarding the pedestrian signals, crosswalks and the right of ways for both. The double sided flyer comes three to a page and can be downloaded here.
Speakers and Presentations
To bring pedestrian safety education to schools and other events, Walk Wise Hawaii, DTS and the four county police departments will come to you! HDOT and its traffic safety partners have representatives that can come to your school or class to do pedestrian safety presentations or to assist your students with safety week presentations. Contact information for Walk Wise Hawaii (HDOT), DTS, and the district community police teams is:
- Dustin Malama with the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services at 808-768 – 8395 or [email protected]
- Honolulu County: https://www.honolulupd.org/community/index.php
- Hawaii County: https://www.hawaiipolice.com/community/community-policing
- Maui County – https://www.mauicounty.gov/231/Support-Services-Bureau
- Kauai County: https://www.kauai.gov/Government/Departments-Agencies/Police-Department/Community-Relations
NEW
Some schools have walking field trips. We can partner with you to incorporate a Walking Tour into this type of field trip. The Walking Tour involves walking with you and your students to their destination while educating the kids on how they can stay safe while they walk. We show them how to be aware when they cross driveways, to the walk signals and in parking lots.
This is based on the concept of the Walking School Bus where the parents walk with the kids to school as a neighborhood project.
We created the Walking Tour to take it one step further – to teach the kids how to be aware of their own neighborhood’s roadway features and how to be safe in it when they walk to their school, park and other favorite spots. As an educator, you know active practice helps them retain what they learned. This activity is that educational tool. Although it takes more planning, it works with what you are already doing so you don’t have to put aside instruction time for it.
Being that this is a very new pilot project, we have only done this on Oahu to test it out. We are currently working on how to bring this to the neighbor islands so don’t hesitate to ask Dustin or Lance about the possibility of doing this at your school.
Other Safety Information Links:
Safe Routes To School – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/srts/
The Hawaii Department of Transportation oversees the federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program in Hawaii, which funds various infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects that make it safer and more convenient for students in grades K-8 to walk and bike to school. In addition, there are county-level SRTS programs. Contact information for State and County SRTS Coordinators, and more information on the SRTS program are available at the link above.
Child Passenger Safety Seats – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/safe-communites/child-passenger-safety/
Graduated Licensing – https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/files/2017/01/GDL-Brochure.pdf