'Watch and Wait': McKeowns campaign for crosswalk safety

Ryley McKeown has been biking without training wheels since he was 3 years old and pedaling his way to and from school since he was in kindergarten.

“It’s really a joy for him,” said his mom, Jen.

After the 11-year-old was hit by a driver in a crosswalk Oct. 10 outside Brandon Valley Middle School, Jen and Chris McKeown questioned whether they should let their fifth-grader continue biking around Brandon.

“I was sick, worried – it really shook me up,” Jen McKeown said. “But Ryley kind of brought me back to center. He said, ‘You know, Mom, I wasn’t hurt. And maybe we can use this to teach other kids about safety.’ I thought, he’s right. Let’s make some good out of a bad situation.”

It’s working, too. They started a Facebook page that’s getting a lot of traction – Watch and Wait @ Watch and Wait for Kids – and Ryley took the floor at the Oct. 15 Brandon City Council meeting with ideas to make city crosswalks safer.

“I hope some people were taking notes. He showed the council more respect than a lot of adults,” said city engineer Tami Jansma.

Jansma is now taking a hard look at Brandon’s crosswalks. She’s making a list of recommendations and talking with state transportation staff and area communities about signs, signals and protocol to determine what will work best in Brandon.

“I think it’s time we just look at all the school zones and what’s there,” Jansma said.

McKeown was turning west at the crosswalk at Holly Boulevard and Fourth Avenue at 4:30 p.m. two weeks ago when a juvenile in a pickup turned west out of the BVMS parking lot and into the crosswalk, knocking him off his bike.

McKeown had punched the button in the crosswalk, causing the yellow lights to flash – a sign for drivers to yield to a pedestrian.

Brandon Police Chief Dave Kull said the boy and the driver made eye contact, and both thought the other was going to yield.

The truck hit McKeown’s helmet first, and he fell to the pavement on his helmet, which cracked.

“Ryley has worn a helmet since he started riding his bike to school in kindergarten, even though some kids make fun of him,” Jen said. “He told me, ‘I didn’t get a concussion because I was wearing my helmet, and I was wearing it because of you.’ I was really impressed.”

When her son was just an infant, Jen was biking to work along Highway 11 when a driver forced her off the road. She flew over the handlebars and hit the ground several feet away. She suffered a concussion from the impact, and a doctor said if she hadn’t been wearing a helmet, she likely would have had brain damage or possibly died. 

“God works in really mysterious ways, and He’s working through us right now,” she said. 

A month earlier, Ryley was nearly in an accident in the crosswalk at Holly and Sioux boulevards. He’d punched the button to cross, but drivers didn’t yield, and he had to stop mid-cross to let three cars pass. 

That’s when his parents started paying closer attention.

“We’ve noticed that people don’t always stop, and they don’t really look to see if someone is there,” she said. “You don’t really start to look until something happens.”

Chief Kull said a child was hit by a driver and injured at a nearby intersection about eight years ago.

He said the responsibility to pay attention falls on both drivers and pedestrians.

“There’s such a thing as defensive driving; there’s also such a thing as defensive walking,” Kull said. “You can’t assume all cars coming up on a crosswalk will see the red light and stop. Pedestrians have to keep aware that you might be in the right, but that’s not necessarily going to save you.”

McKeown pointed out the streets have changed a lot since she and many parents first picked up car keys, as the act of driving itself. From GPS navigation and cell phones to digital billboards, motorists have more distractions than ever.

“All of that takes attention away from what you’re actually supposed to be doing,” she said. 

After he was hit on Holly Oct. 10, Ryley got back on his bike and waved away the help of the driver, heeding the warning not to talk to strangers. Several drivers witnessed the accident, but nobody called the police. 

“We prefer to have those calls right away,” Kull said.

The driver was later issued a warning ticket, he said.

The McKeowns are viewing the accident as an opportunity to equip others with safety tips.  

Ryley is creating a PowerPoint presentation to show at Brandon Valley schools and a handout for students to take home.

“It’s some really great things that parents can visit with their kids about,” his mom said. “And sometimes it’s better coming from a peer – just, ‘Make sure you’re following these things.’ Some kids hear information from other kids better than they do their parents.”  

They’ve also posted the 10 tips on crosswalk safety on the Watch and Wait Facebook page. The first tip is for kids to practice crossing safely in crosswalks with a parent or adult and not attempt it alone before they’re 10 years old. 

“You also have to look at the cognitive ability of the child,” Jen said. “We live in Brandon because it’s a small town, it’s safe, and kids can play and ride their bikes and we don’t have to worry.”  

Ryley’s suggestions to the city council included putting ‘No turn on red’ signs at all the crosswalks, building in a delay on green lights when a pedestrian or biker has activated the button and increasing monitoring from 3-5:30 p.m.

Another suggestion – changing the gel color in the flashing yellow lights from yellow to red – is against federal transportation regulations, Jansma said. 

Brandon has five crosswalks on Holly Boulevard alone – at Fourth and Sixth avenues, Pasque Flower Circle and Splitrock and Sioux boulevards. More crossings are at Sioux and Aspen boulevards, Park and Locust, and North Splitrock, just east of Brandon Valley High School. 

Jansma plans to re-evaluate each crossing to make sure it’s in compliance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

“Flashing lights get kind of expensive, and there are different options,” she said. “Are we going to go hard-wired or solar panel or LED? We also have to look at maintenance – like, is one going to get covered up with snow – look at what the lights are timed at now, what’s worked in other communities and go from there.”

 

 

10 Ways to Help Kids Cross Safely at Crosswalks 

1. Be ready. Don’t cross with an adult until at least 10 years old. 

2. Practice. Cross with a parent or responsible adult before trying it alone. 

3. Look for traffic signals. Cross at intersections with traffic signals whenever possible. 

4. Stay in the lines. That’s where drivers expect you to be. 

5. Keep looking. Stop at the curb. Look left, right, left, and over your shoulder for traffic, continuing as you cross.

6. Walk defensively. Put away gadgets and focus all your attention on walking safely. 

7. Don’t assume. If a car is coming up to a crosswalk or has a green light at the same time you have a walk signal, don’t assume they’ll stop until they actually do and wave you across.

8. Make eye contact. Make sure drivers have given you a clear signal to cross before you do. 

9. Wear helmets on bikes. Bike helmets can reduce the chance of hurting your head by 85%. 

10. Stay clear. Never step or bicycle into the path of a moving vehicle. 

 

Adapted from Kids on the Move: Walking and Biking Safely, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration