While scanning the headlines in Ohio newspapers, residents will occasionally read of an auto-pedestrian accident. The Ohio resident may feel sad and extend their sympathy, but will they ever do anything to change the statistics? One eight-year-old boy has decided to do something to better protect pedestrians.

When the child went to visit his grandma, he saw that some of the street corners around town had bright orange flags for pedestrians to carry as the crossed the street to better alert motorists to their presence. The idea is to carry a bright orange flag from one corner and deposit it on the other corner when the pedestrian has safely crossed. The small but bright child thought this was a great idea. He has taken steps and gone to meetings with the aid of his mother to advocate the installation of a program like this in his hometown.

Cities across the country that currently have this system in place report a marked reduction in the rate of auto-pedestrian accidents. It is reported that only around 13 percent of pedestrians may use the flag system, but of those that do, 80 percent of the time a car will see them and stop for them, contrasted with a car yielding only around 20 percent of the time without the use of the orange flags.

If systems like this were more widely accepted and implemented, Ohio could see a serious decrease in the rate of auto-pedestrian accidents. Individuals, such as this precocious little eight-year-old, may be the change that pedestrian safety needs in Ohio.

Source: HJ News, "Eight-year-old Logan boy gets city to install crossing flags," Jeff Hunter, Mar. 9, 2012