Street Smarts Kicks Off the New School Year

BY JANE McINNIS

The San Ramon Valley Street Smarts traffic safety campaign highlighted upcoming programs for the new school year at the Veterans Memorial Building on Thursday afternoon.

Terry Koenhe, the SRVUSD Community Relations Director started off the event by taking a moment to remember children in the county who suffered critical and fatal traffic accidents recently. This mention included Robert Orlando, the high school senior who died in a car accident the day before his first day of school.

"These are sobering reasons we do this program," Koenhe said.

Mayor Newell Arnerich talked about continued cell phone use while driving, and how these actions can become learned behaviors

"It's how we act that determines how our children act," he said.

Guest speaker Mark Ballock, an avid cyclist and instructor shared a personal experience of a helmet saving his live when he was hit by a car that was traveling at 40 mph back in 2010.

Ballock's neck was broken in the accident, and today he lives with short term memory loss, nerve damage and other lifelong injuries. He covered the basics of helmets fitting securely and properly.

In addition to the different speakers, State Farm presented a $10,000 dollar check to benefit the program.

Poster ads focused on cleaner commutes to school created by high school students were unveiled. The ads will appear in schools and across the valley in public transit stops.

Street Smarts is a traffic safety education program made up of Danville, San Ramon, Contra Costa County and the San Ramon School District.