Roads, Pavements and Crossing Safely
Walk on pavements with an adult. Choose a crossing together, stop back from the kerb, look and listen for traffic, and wait until it is safe. Keep looking while crossing. Learn how parked cars can block your view and hide you from drivers.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Name three places that are safer to cross than the middle of a parked row
- Say the order of the steps at the kerb and why looking continues while crossing
- Explain why a driver may not see a small child standing between two cars
1 · Read
You have learned to cross with a trusted adult. Roads carry cars and other traffic. Walk on the pavement with your adult and hold their hand. Watch for cars crossing the pavement at driveways.
Your adult helps choose a crossing. A zebra crossing has painted stripes. Other crossings have lights for people walking. A footbridge goes over the road. These are better choices than a gap between parked cars. At a road crossing, check traffic and wait with your adult. Stripes do not make moving cars stop.
The kerb is the edge of the pavement. Stop back from it with your adult. Look both ways and check for turning traffic. Listen too. Listening does not replace looking. At lights for people walking, wait for the walk signal and still check traffic. Wait until your adult says it is safe and the traffic you must cross has stopped or the road is clear.
Put your phone away before crossing. Hold your adult's hand and walk straight across. Do not run. Keep looking for traffic until you reach the other pavement. Traffic can change while you cross, so one look is not enough.
Parked cars can block your view of traffic and hide you from drivers. Bends can hide traffic too. Do not step out between cars to see better. Stay on the pavement and ask your adult to find a crossing with a clear view.
It is harder for drivers to see people after dark. Reflective strips on clothes shine when car lights reach them. Your adult can carry a light to help you see the path. Stay together on lit pavements. These aids do not replace checking and waiting before crossing.
Cross with your adult. Stop back, look and listen, and wait until safe. Walk together and keep watching until you reach the other pavement.
Original road-crossing lesson, questions and flashcards written for this dataset.
Original readings and flashcards about crossing with an adult, clear walking routes, visibility after dark and pretend practice written for this dataset.
More to read
Cross together
Hold your adult's hand as you approach a crossing. Stop back from the kerb and stay on the pavement. Look both ways, check for turning traffic and listen.
At lights for people walking, wait for the walk signal and still check traffic. Wait until your adult says it is safe and the traffic you must cross has stopped or the road is clear. Walk straight across together. Keep looking until you reach the other pavement.
Choose a clear walking route
Your adult helps plan where to walk and cross. Walk on the pavement, but watch for cars at driveways. Parked cars and bends may hide moving traffic.
If your view is blocked, stay on the pavement. Ask your adult to find a clearer crossing instead of stepping between cars. A zebra crossing has painted stripes. Some crossings have lights for people walking. A footbridge takes you over the road. Your adult checks which route to use.
Walk with your adult after dark
Stay with your adult on lit pavements after dark. Reflective strips on your clothes shine when car lights reach them. Your adult can carry a light to help you see the path.
Drivers may still miss seeing you. Stop, check and wait before crossing together. Keep your phone away while crossing so you can watch traffic. Clothing and lights help, but they do not replace staying with your adult and checking the road.
Practise away from traffic
Practise with your adult indoors or somewhere away from traffic. Choose a line to pretend is the kerb. Hold hands and stop back. Say what you would look and listen for.
Pretend to wait while traffic passes. When your adult says the pretend road is clear, walk together and keep looking. If you use a ball in the pretend game, practise staying back and telling your adult when it rolls over the line. Never chase a ball into a real road.
2 · Watch
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8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.