What Kids Can and Can’t Do

Think your 5-year-old can cross the street? Can your 7-year-old bicycle to school? Think again. Parents tend to overestimate their children’s street smarts, safety experts say.

5-year-olds cannot:

* Judge speed or distance.

* Understand why the driver of a car can’t see them if they can see the car.

* Quickly realize the direction from which the sound of a car is coming.

* Stop play momentum in time to focus on the street.

6-to-8-year-olds cannot:

* Consistently judge speeds and distances of oncoming cars.

* Control a big bike bought for them to “grow into.”

* Plan a good route to their destination by bike or foot, or find a safe crossing place on their own.

* Balance, steer, stop and start a bike and pay attention to the street traffic, other cyclists and even parked cars.

Preteens and adolescents:

* Underestimate traffic and the amount of time it takes vehicles to stop.

* “Forget” that bicyclists are subject to same laws--and traffic fines--as all vehicles on the road.

Sources: UC Irvine and National Safe Kids Campaign