A study released Thursday found 70 percent of drivers do not properly stop for stop signs.

The National SAFE KIDS Campaign said of the 25,660 vehicles observed, 37.4 percent rolled through stop signs, and 7.2 percent failed to even slow down.

“The majority of motorists are putting child pedestrians at serious risk because they fail to stop at stop signs or crosswalks,” Dr. Martin Eichelberger, president of SAFE KIDS, said in a press release.

The study showed drivers made proper stops more frequently when pedestrians were in the crosswalk, but 23.7 percent still did not stop properly.

Illinois defines a proper stop as a vehicle coming to complete rest before the stop line or crosswalk. If neither are present, the law requires drivers to stop before reaching the stop sign.

“Very few drivers make a complete stop,” said Mark Sykes, driver’s education instructor at DeKalb High School. “The local Secretary of State’s office tells us it’s the No. 1 reason kids fail the behind-the-wheel test.”

Sykes said DeKalb seems to have safe intersections with crossing guards at busier ones and police working to be visible to motorists.

Last year, DeKalb police issued 463 citations for disobeying a traffic control device. Stop sign violations included stop lights and other violations of traffic signs.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates sign violations contribute to 200 fatal accidents and 17,000 injury accidents each year.

SAFE KIDS stated in its report that teaching children safe practices will not eliminate the danger of accidents. The organization said children under 10 have not developed enough to recognize and avoid traffic threats.

Data for the study was gathered by 72 local chapters of SAFE KIDS and sent to the headquarters for processing.

Each of the 288 intersections included were monitored for 30 minutes by at least two volunteers.

Roughly half of the intersections monitored by local chapters of the organization were in school zones. The remainder were in residential neighborhoods with child pedestrian traffic.

Stops were broken down into four categories: before the crosswalk, in or past the crosswalk, rolling stop and no stop.