In a tragic story our of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a 3-year-old girl who was celebrating her birthday this past Saturday didn’t live to make four. While at her party, she ran into the street to greet a relative who had just arrived and was struck and killed by a passing car.

This story is a tragic reminder of two things:

1. It’s never too early to start talking with kids about street safety. You can find free resources at www.keepyourchildsafe.org/street-safety-for-kids, including our book How To Not Get Runned Over.
2. Parent often mistakenly assume that accidents like this happen when people aren’t watching their kids. It’s not watching that’s the problem. You can watch your child make a poor decision in a fraction of a second; it won’t do any good if your not in a position to catch them before it’s too late. In any potentially dangerous situation, either hold children’s’ hand (if you have enough of them) or try to position yourself between the kids and the street. so that you can catch a kid who decides to dart toward the street before they can reach the danger zone.