"Our Children and Grandchildren are not merely statistics towards which we can be indifferent" JFK

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Safest cities for families with young children revealed-Underwriters Laboratories

NORTHBROOK, Ill., Sept. 29, 2010 - News stories about tragic accidents, many that could have been prevented, seem to dominate today's headlines. While accidents can happen anytime or anywhere, Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the global safety leader, commissioned a study with Sperling's Best Places to determine the cities that stand out in helping prevent needless accidents and improving the safety of their residents, especially families with young children.

The study, "Safest Cities for Families with Young Children," evaluated the 50 largest U.S. cities on specific criteria that contribute to home, community and overall personal safety. The results showed that 10 cities lead the way in helping reduce risk of fire deaths, pedestrian accidents and other mishaps that contribute to the estimated 14 million potentially disabling, unintentional injuries that children sustain each year.

The 2010 "Safest Cities for Families with Young Children" include:
  • Boston
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Louisville, Ky.
  • Minneapolis, Minn.
  • New York
  • Portland, Ore.
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Tampa, Fla.
  • Virginia Beach, Va.

Each city was measured on 25 criteria encompassing child-focused, safety-oriented behaviors and regulatory best practices. As part of the methodology, the study filtered out cities with the highest crime rates and considered air quality, incidence of child pedestrian accidents, injuries and drowning. The study also focused on accessibility to hospitals; response time for fire and police personnel; and laws, codes and regulations that address smoking, home inspections, smoke and CO alarms, pool safety and bike helmets. The top 10 cities had the highest frequency or values in these categories.

"There is a unique set of safety considerations that goes into developing safe homes, communities and environments for raising young children, and the purpose of the study was to bring awareness to the best practices in those areas," said Gus Schaefer, UL's Public Safety Officer. "We hope that highlighting the importance of these safety practices will help keep more families protected." Complete Press Release

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