It is important to be proactive about safety, especially in your neighborhood. As a society, we are fast paced people but there are places we need to slow down and the biggest is your neighborhood. Neighborhoods are full of all different kinds of people who use the streets, sidewalks, and crosswalks. Some people assume neighborhoods are a safe place to drive through, but on the contrary, there are a lot of potential hazards you could run into. One moment of carelessness or recklessness in a neighborhood could result in a costly accident.

Common Hazards

There are many different types of obstructions or hazards that drivers must watch out for in a neighborhood setting. These include:

• Children at play. Children often play in and around streets. They may suddenly run out in front of a car to chase a ball without looking.
• Roadway obstructions. Neighborhood streets can become crowded with all kinds of obstructions, such as parked cars, trash, and recycling bins, and bags of leaves or discarded materials. Children, pets, and others may dart out between parked cars or from behind obstructions without warning.
• Blind corners. Sometimes it can be hard to see around corners because of blocking trees, bushes, mailboxes, light poles, fences, or other obstructions.
• Pedestrians crossing. Kids walking to or from school or people walking around the neighborhood with kids or pets may cross the street at the corner or in the middle of the street, sometimes without looking both ways.
• Bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles. These two-wheeled vehicles have as much of a right to use the road as do automobiles.

Safety Tips

To avoid having an accident because of the above potential hazards, it is important for drivers to respect others’ use of the road in residential areas and to do the following:

• Drive slowly. By driving at or under the reduced speed limit in neighborhoods you can prevent a severe accident.
• Exercise caution at intersections and turns. Look in all directions for potential hazards.
• Don’t tailgate slower vehicles. Be polite towards bicycles and scooters and keep a safe following distance until you can clearly pass them at a passing distance of greater than three feet.
• Give pedestrians the right of way. Slow down or stop for them especially if there is a crosswalk.
• Use your lights. At night, always use your headlamps to illuminate the road.

Following these simple rules will help keep your neighborhood streets safer and help stop a heartbreaking accident from occurring.