In May, we honor both National Bicycle Safety Month and National Youth Traffic Safety Month. Idaho is among the five states recognized by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) with grants for youth mobility. The Idaho Walk Bike Alliance, in partnership with the Idaho Office of Highway Safety (OHS), has secured a $25,000 grant from the National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF). This grant will support efforts to educate Idaho’s children on safe walking, biking, and scootering.
The Idaho Walk Bike Alliance is a non-profit dedicated to making walking and biking a healthy, safe, and reliable transportation option for Idahoans. The Alliance will use the grant funding to provide several communities with hands-on lessons about Idaho’s roads. This project aims to fill an educational void for middle and high school students, specifically bridging the gap between K-6 Safe Routes to School programming and driver education and training. Students will learn about active transportation modes such as walking, biking, or scooting, which provide equitable access to school for many in the community.
“There is a crucial gap when kids in middle school are biking and walking and have not yet learned the rules of the road. As students become more independent, being able to get where they are going safely is an essential life skill. Our goal is to educate these students so they can get where they are going, safely, and to become drivers that keep people who are walking and cycling safe,” said Idaho Walk Bike Alliance Education Specialist Margaret Havey.
Nationally and in Idaho, traffic crashes are a leading cause of death for young people. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2021*, nationally nearly 1,200 children (age 14 and younger) died in traffic crashes that year, up 8% from 2020. In Idaho, child traffic fatalities increased from 5 in 2020, to 9 in 2021.
The Walk Bike Alliance is looking for schools, community organizations, or recreation programs that are interested in participating in the program. To get involved please contact Margaret Havey at margaret@idahowalkbike.org.
*2021 is the most recent year for complete national data from NHTSA
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About GHSA
The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) is a nonprofit association representing the highway safety offices of states, territories, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. GHSA provides leadership and representation for the states and territories to improve traffic safety, influence national policy, enhance program management and promote best practices. Its members are appointed by their Governors to administer federal and state highway safety funds and implement state highway safety plans. Visit ghsa.org for more information or find us on Facebook and X/Twitter.
About NRSF
The National Road Safety Foundation, Inc., a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization founded more than 60 years ago, produces traffic safety programs on distracted driving, speed and aggression, impaired driving, drowsy driving, driver proficiency, pedestrian safety and a host of other safety issues. It distributes the programs free of charge to schools, police and traffic safety advocates, community groups and individuals. It also sponsors contests to engage teens in promoting safe driving to their peers and in their communities. For more information or to download free programs, visit nrsf.org.