Educational Resources

Wood Middle School Bicycle Lesson

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Education

SMART can provide primary and middle-school students with pedestrian and bicycle safety lessons. SMART will provide all needed instruction and materials. 

Why teach pedestrian and bicycle safety?

Pedestrian Safety lessons provide students with the basic knowledge and skill practice necessary to be safe pedestrians. Bicycle safety lessons teach students basic traffic rules and regulations, the skills needed to cycle effectively, and how to communicate and ride predictably on the road. Regardless of their preferred mode of travel to school, all children will sometimes need to travel in their neighborhoods. When children walk or ride on the same streets as other road users, research tells us that children perceive traffic differently than adults.

  • Children have difficulty judging speed and distance.
  • Young children have underdeveloped peripheral vision.
  • Children are likely to believe that cars can stop instantly and that the driver can see them if they can see the car.

Through ongoing skill development and practice, children can significantly reduce the likelihood of injury-causing crashes. 

If you are interested in learning more about pedestrian and bicycle education please contact SMART.

SMART Bicycle Programs 

Bike Clinic/Learn-to-Ride                             Bike Rodeos

Bikes on the Bus                                                  Bike Adventure Camp

Jump Start: Train the Trainer

You can bring bicycle and pedestrian safety education to your community with the Train the Trainer program.

Through the Jump Start train-the-trainer program, the Oregon SRTS Technical Assistance Providers (TAP) team will teach your PE teachers, school staff, and other community volunteers how to teach your students bike and/or pedestrian safety. After going through the class, TAP will loan you a bicycle fleet and/or pedestrian safety kit, based on which training(s) you hosted so that your educators can put their new training into practice with your students. 

Safety Campaign Materials

Drive Like It                        Oregonians Stand Out                        Look Out for Kids                         Stop as Yield

Traffic Playgrounds

WHAT IS A TRAFFIC PLAYGROUND? A traffic playground, also known as a traffic garden, is a network of connected streets with traffic features that is free of motorized vehicles. Young and adult learners develop confidence by navigating the streets, intersections, and crossings. While learning on-street skills and about safety, they are also developing an understanding of how street interactions work. Traffic playgrounds can be put together in many different ways and there is lots of scope for creative design and new ideas. The SRTS Traffic Playground Toolkit outlines planning and design considerations for new traffic playgrounds.

Additional Resources

OREGON FRIENDLY DRIVER COURSE: Learn how to share the road with people walking and biking. Great for new drivers!

Click any thumbnail image to view a slideshow

Annual Pedestrian Fatalities
Annual Bicyclist Fatalities