PORT ST. LUCIE — Following two recent accidents in which children were struck by cars on the way to their school bus stops, Port St. Lucie officials have taken steps to increase bus stop safety.

To make kids more visible as they walk to bus stops on dark mornings, the city began distributing flashing lights that can be worn on backpacks and waistbands.

The strobe lights are being distributed by school resource offices and bus drivers at each school in Port St. Lucie. Kids who ride buses to school will be given the lights first, and those who have the earliest routes will be a priority, officials said.

The city council held a meeting Monday to hear residents’ suggestions on improving bus stop safety. Ideas discussed included adding sidewalks and lighted bus stops throughout the city, adding gravel pathways alongside roads, encouraging the school district to start school days later, increasing enforcement against drivers and creating a countywide campaign to educate children and motorists about pedestrian safety.

Vice Mayor Jack Kelly suggested that the city council consider bringing the issue to voters in a referendum. The council agreed to set a meeting with school district board members to discuss the issue further and to address it at their annual two-day planning session in February.

In September, an 11-year-old girl was struck by a car while she was walking to her bus stop on a street with no sidewalks, according to WPTV. The girl reportedly suffered several broken bones and a brain injury.

Two days before that accident, a boy was struck and killed by a car as he darted across a street to get to his bus stop, WPTV reported.