I was driving home the other day and ended up stopped behind a school bus. As the kids got off, I noticed that quite a few of them – well, mostly boys – were wearing shorts. And you know what that means? Winter is over and Spring is here!

And you know what that means? It’s time to slow wwwaaaayyy down when you’re driving, and to have your eyes on swivel, watching for kids on bikes, kids chasing balls, runners and walkers, even adults on bikes. Everyone wants to be outside about now, and sometimes we all forget the ‘rules’ of playing safely outside.

While I’ll always say that adult runners, walkers and bikers bear a whole lot of the responsibility of keeping themselves safe on the roads, kids can’t necessarily be trusted to do so. They act before thinking, so it’s up to the rest of us to keep our eyes open for them.

So, drivers, slow down, watch between parked cars, take turns slowly … you know, ‘Drive Like Your Kids Live Here’, as the signs say!

Now that said, parents, please give your kids the annual reminders about being cautious when playing outside, and, please remind them over and over how important it is to wear their helmets when they’re riding their bikes. Helmets are proven to significantly reduce the risk – like reduce it by 85 percent -- of serious head injuries, including brain trauma, which can be life-threatening.

My friend Lisa Sibley had a brain injury, and had to undergo a whole period of learning how to do basic tasks over again. She’s doing fantastic now, but has made it one of her life’s missions to provide bike helmets to any child who might need one, to help prevent them from going through what she went through.

If you know a child who needs a new helmet, or if you want to donate a helmet (they tend to cost about $20) to her stash of ones to give away, reach out to me, and I’ll connect you to her. By the way, did you know that bike helmets should be replaced immediately after a crash? And, regardless of whether they’ve been in a crash, they should be replaced after about three-to-five years due to material degradation and potential loss of structural integrity. They’re not terribly expensive … better safe than sorry!

One more thing about being outside this time of year. Wear some color. Dark clothes, at dusk and beyond, make it really hard to see you. My husband walks one of our dogs after dark most every day, so I got him a lighted leash to use at night, for this very reason. He’d be wearing dark pants and put on his dark coat and a hat, and they were basically invisible.

If you’re walking to work or school, or like to exercise early or late in the day, please grab a reflective vest or sash or something along those lines to help the rest of us see you. I looked online for some prices of those items – we’re talking $10 to help ensure your own safety. This is a terrible statistic, and maybe it’s way off, but a quick internet search told me that it’s been reported that about 122,000 runners get hit by cars and end up in the hospital every year. Don’t let it be you.

Get out and enjoy Spring … just do it safely!