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The U.S. Postal Service is encouraging children to be cautious and safe around postal-delivery vehicles.

In an effort to teach kids to stay away from the boxy vehicles until they move on to the next stop, the Postal Service sends an eagle mascot and a postal employee to schools. Kids in kindergarten through second grade hear a presentation and get a coloring book to reinforce the message.

But in Southern Arizona, there's another component to the outreach effort.

The children get to see a demonstration of just how poor the visibility is in a delivery vehicle.

After the standard presentation, the group goes outside, and usually the tallest student is selected to sit inside the vehicle, because the tallest child would have the best visibility while in the driver's seat.

Then three or four other kids stand near the vehicle in designated spots, while the student in the driver's seat keeps his or her eyes closed.

Then the "driver" is told to use the mirrors to try to find the other students. When the other students realize that even the tallest kid in the class can't see them, they all understand how easily they could go unnoticed if they ran up to a mail truck.

This local add-on really shows children the ease with which they could get hurt if a mail carrier didn't see them approach, said Rob Soler, spokesman for the Postal Service in Tucson.

"From time to time, we would be asked by schools to come out and have letter carriers talk about what they do, and I have young kids, too," Soler said. "I thought, 'Why don't we do something that's valuable and talk about a safety subject?' "

The students also get a chance to explore the delivery truck, so they may not be as interested about one when one travels through their neighborhood, he said.

"They all want to see what's in the back of truck. We allow them to satisfy their curiosity a little bit — look inside the truck. Then they see it's not so exciting," he said.

"It's not just letter-delivery trucks but other vehicles, too. Any working trucks — you need to stay away from. That's what smart kids do," Soler said.

Soler started the program locally last year, and then earlier this year the Postal Service unveiled a similar program nationwide. The national program includes a uniformed letter carrier, a two-minute video and coloring books, Soler said.

"We really hope our efforts talking to kids in school will be supported by parents at home, reinforcing that message with kids so that we can provide safe service in the neighborhoods we serve," Soler said.

Question: "I was wondering if you know whether there are any plans to put in stripes to divide the double left-hand-turn lanes on both east- and west-bound Ina Road going from Ina onto La Cholla Boulevard. I turn down that road just about every day, and it seems many motorists do not seem to know you are not supposed to go from the inside lane to the outside lane when you turn onto La Cholla, and having no dividing lines does not help. I have had to dodge many of them in the middle of my turn onto Ina Road. I would safely call it a hazard," Paul Cragle wrote.

Answer: New lines have been painted in all four directions to designate the double left-turn lanes, said Priscilla Cornelio, director of the Pima County Department of Transportation.

Road Runner