StreetSmarts for Students

Community safety

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) Central LA East LA South LA San Gabriel Valley West LA San Fernando Valley Gateway Cities South Bay Long Beach Antelope Valley

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

Per LAUSD, traffic collisions are the leading cause of death for children aged 5–14 in LA County. Per the most recent OTS report, teen motor vehicle fatalities (ages 16–19) rose 9.5%, and teen driver fatalities rose 14%.
These are not accidents—they reflect systemic failures to protect our most vulnerable. In communities like South LA and Compton—designated as part of the High Injury Network by LADOT—young people are especially at risk, navigating streets where speeding, street racing, distracted driving, and unsafe infrastructure are daily realities.
Despite this growing crisis, most youth—especially in underserved communities—lack access to effective traffic safety education. Just as they reach an age where they navigate streets independently by walking, biking, driving, or taking transit, they lack tools that speak their language, reflect their lived realities, or empower them to act.
What’s missing isn’t just curriculum—it’s connection. It’s time we gave young people better.

Our solution: the first-of-its-kind Traffic Safety Educator Kits—simple, engaging, and designed for anyone—teachers, parents, or youth leaders—to teach youth critical traffic safety skills. These classroom-ready, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive kits cover all aspects of safe driving, biking, walking, and transit use. Each includes award-winning peer-made PSAs, bilingual lesson plans, discussion guides, visual storytelling activities, and real-world scenarios. Kits will be free to all schools, prioritizing equitable access for underserved communities.
Toolkit elements (available in print and digital):
– Six traffic safety booklets
– A Teacher/Educator “How to Teach Road Safety” workbook covering:
 • Why road safety matters
 • How to teach and engage students
 • Lesson plans for each topic
 • Additional activities students can do for safer roads
 • Glossary of key terms
– Peer-created posters on key traffic safety topics
– Peer-created PSAs aligned with each booklet
Being developed at Compton Unified School District’s request and shaped by youth, educators, and experts, the kits will be tailored for LA communities and guided by SAFE’s decade of traffic-safety programming. This grant funds development, translation, design, and free distribution via our trusted school network.
This is more than a toolkit—it’s a community-powered effort to equip youth with the tools, support, and knowledge they need to stay safe and move confidently through their streets.

Success is young people making informed, confident choices on our roads, because they truly understand. This initiative combines storytelling, visual media, hands-on activities, and peer-created content to make traffic safety lessons stick.
It’s not just about reading facts—it’s about demonstrating real understanding. When students actively engage with education, they internalize it and carry it into their daily lives.
If this style of education were implemented across LA, we’d see fewer teen traffic injuries and deaths, and more students confidently biking, walking, driving, and using transit.
The impact goes beyond the streets—improving physical and mental health, and creating a culture where safety is valued and practiced.
Once implemented, these tool kits will be integrated into our Streets, Art, SAFE program—now entering its 10th year—to ensure long-term growth, expansion, and success.