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Show Post office tells safety tips for children near mail trucks "Letter carriers can make over 500 stops per day, and if there are little children around, it can make for a dangerous situation and for a very unnervin g day for the carrier," said Adams. "However, all the safety talks and mirrors in the world cannot control a child's actions. That's why we're asking parents to help in the safety effort. A postal vehicle can't hit a child if they're far from it." Every year, children are injured because they play too close to postal vehicles. But these accidents don't have to happen, and the Postal Service is asking for parent's help in preventing them. Children flock to letter carriers whenever they're in the neighborhood. neighbor-hood. When they approach a letter carrier's vehicle unnoticed by the carrier, or suddenly appear from behind a parked car, the results can be tragic. Lastyear some West Valley, UT, children thought it was fun to try and grab the back bumper of a letter carrier's vehicle without at; apting the letter carrier's at ten-: ion. When a two-year-old boy oined the game he held on too long wdwasdraggedbehind the vehicle 'or 25 feet. Thankfully the child Sved. Ironically, a few days later, hesamechildren tried tohold on to le bumper of the vehicle again. Tarents can help prevent these accidents by making sure their thildren do not run or ride out to greet a letter carrier in a vehicle," said Pleasant Grove Postmaster i Wally Adams. "Letter carriers become a famil- iar sight in neighborhoods and are often welcomed as friends by i adults and children alike." "But a child running out to get the mail can be very hazardous, mainly because carriers can lose sight of them or don't know they're around at all. Also, if a child must cross the street to get to a mailbox, a vehicle passing the stopped mail truck might hit your child," said Adams. ( According to Adams, if children i pick up the mail, they should do so only after the letter carrier has put the mail in the mailbox and gone on to the next house. Letter carriers receive safety talks at work to remind them to be on the lookout for children as they deliver the mail. And postal vehicles ve-hicles are equipped with mirrors on the hood to help them see anyone or anything in front of the bumper. |