When you moved into your new house or neighborhood, you almost certainly did so with the safety of your kids in mind. Unfortunately, even the safest subdivisions can become dangerous when careless drivers blow through 15 mph zones as if trying to win the Daytona 500. While there’s nothing you can do to force these drivers to keep the safety of others in mind, you can at least do your part to keep your kids safe. These Children At Play signs will alert drivers to the fact that kids are likely to be out and about, and that they should adjust their speed and their alertness levels to match these conditions.
Protecting Our Kids
While it’s sometimes tempting to believe that the world keeps getting worse, that’s not really the case. Indeed, in many ways, things are better now than they ever have been. Take child safety in traffic, for instance. According to the official stats, child pedestrian fatalities decreased 50% from 2000 to 2009, and the numbers are still on the decline. While there is no solid evidence linking this decrease to the proliferation of Children At Play signs, we’d be hard pressed to deny the connection. City governments in some jurisdictions will point to this lack of evidence to forbid the signage, but we say it’s better to be safe than sorry. Even if the signs only cause a few drivers to slow down, that’s already a marked improvement.
Bold and Colorful
We’ve stocked this section with bold, colorful Children at Play signs that will grab the attention of drivers and use psychology to convince them to slow down. At careless as so many are behind the wheel, very few people will deliberately ignore such a sign. The thought of causing a dreadful accident because you can’t keep your lead foot off the gas is too much for most people to bear. They just need a reminder every now and again. Let these signs be the reminder…instead of a close call in the middle of the road.
Use in Conjunction with Safety Practices
Of all the absurd reasons we’ve seen city councils reject the use of Children at Play signs, one of the most ridiculous has to be that they could cause a “false sense of security” and indeed encourage children to play in the streets. This is highly unlikely. However, we should note that these signs are not guaranteed to slow traffic outside your home, so they should be used in conjunction with commonsense safety practices. For instance, you should of course discourage your children from playing in the street, sign or no sign. You may also want to contact your local law enforcement and encourage them to monitor street speeds if you have an ongoing problem with reckless driving.
Use Variations on a Theme
We sell several different types of Children at Play signs, and you may want to consider purchasing more than one. Why? Because after you’ve had a certain sign out in the lawn for a while, drivers become so accustomed to seeing it that they no longer give the message the attention it deserves. By changing it up every now and then, you’ll refresh the visuals and ensure that your message remains recognized.