Reinforce Road Safety messages to your children

Helping parents to share the road safety message with their children is key to keeping our little people safe on or near the roads.

The roads sadly are a risk to our children. Road Safety in our cars, while cycling, jumping on buses, and the lorries can all pose a threat to our little people. Even from the moment you bring your baby home in their first car seat, their exposure to travel and the road begins.

Road Safety Week 2016

From 21-27 November 2016, it is Road Safety Week, which is a great opportunity to reinforce road safety messages with children and young people, parents, grandparents and carers.

Brake, the charity that co-ordinates the week, and is asking everyone to sign their road safety pledge.

You can visit the Road Safety Week website to see how you and your family can help the roads be safer by being:

Slow – driving slower helps avoid crashes
Sober – alcohol, drugs and driving don’t mix
Secure – belting up everyone in the vehicle
Silent – not taking calls or texts when driving
Sharp – drivers getting their eyes tested regularly
Sustainable – minimising the amount of driving

What’s the risk?

Fewer children are harmed on the roads than in previous generations. But still, on average, one child dies and 170 are seriously injured every week in the UK.

It was clearly shown during Child Safety Week, that the risks are changing, with technology proving a distraction for drivers and pedestrians alike.

Walking

Help is available for parents to keep their little ones safe whatever the weather with the popular It’s fun to go out. but… booklet.

The picture booklet It’s Fun to Go Out offers easy-to-follow key safety messages and advice on crossing roads safely in when children are out and about either on foot or in the car. It’s a great reminder for busy parents and carers.

Two thirds of the children who get injured on the roads are pedestrians.

But driving children about more is not the answer. Children need to lead active lives to be healthy. Parents and carers have a crucial role to play, as role models to children while out walking and by helping children practise how to cross roads safely.

Car seat confusion

Child car seats save lives, but choosing the right one can be confusing. Why not check out the CAPT safety advice?

The CAPT article, The Trouble with Car Seats explains why some parents and carers are breaking the law and why up to 70% of seats are fitted incorrectly. It also gives examples of how to help parents with the problems they come across.

The main issues

Some parents provide a range of explanations about why they are not using a child car seat, or why it is unsuitable or incorrectly fitted, including:

Deciding that a child seat is unnecessary on a very short journey
Lacking knowledge about the best kind of seat for the child
Not being able to fit the seat correctly
Giving greater priority to the child’s pram and pushchair travel system and consequently spending little on a car seat and using an old one (second hand)
Being confident that the car will protect the child if there is a collision and not realising the safety benefits of the car seat
Assuming that a child is able to use an adult seat belt with a booster cushion (one without a back) from an early age – around age three years
Being unconvinced that child car seats are necessary – ‘a con’ and ‘a money spinner’. This view is not uncommon among grandparents.

Make the most of Road Safety Week

Many paernts used Child Safety Week to encourage their families to turn off technology for safety while out walking or in the car. Road Safety Week is a great opportunity to reinforce those safety messages, so do get involved.