Last year, 11,614 children aged between four and 11 years old received some form of injury or died as a result of a road accident in Britain. So teaching your child about road safety is vital
Teach your child road safety
Young children are most at risk as pedestrians. Eighteen children aged between four and 11 were killed or seriously injured weekly while walking in Britain in 2006. So it is really important to teach children about sensible and safe pedestrian behaviour. Walking with your child to and from school is an excellent way to teach your child about road safety at an early age.
Road safety year by year
The Department for Transport's new THINK! CopyCat campaign encourages parents to show children by example how to behave on the roads. Telling our children to behave a certain way on the roads and then breaking those rules ourselves sends mixed messages and children will tend to copy what we do.
Talking about road safety from a young age will teach good habits. Here's how to approach the issue with different age groups:
One to four-year-olds
Start the learning process as early as possible by explaining what traffic is and how they should interact with it.
When you are out together, make sure your child walks on the side of the pavement away from the traffic and either holds you hand, is on reins or is in a buggy or pushchair.
Five to six-year-olds
Now is the time to start teaching your child the basics of the Green Cross Code.
Practice on quiet roads, firstly crossing together, then letting your child lead you, and finally letting them cross while you wait behind, watching carefully.
Always cross the road at the safest place and explain why you are crossing there.
Seven to nine-year-olds
Now is the time to explain the Green Cross Code in full to your child and start testing their knowledge of it on the quiet roads you have been practising on.
Gradually start crossing busier roads together, but do this many times before you let your child cross alone.
Make sure your child can be seen easily by other road users by ensuring they are wearing bright and fluorescent clothing during the day and reflective clothing at night.
Ten to 16-year-olds
Talk to your child about the dangers they face on the road and ensure they take road safety seriously.
Make sure that whenever your child is out on the road they are constantly aware of what is happening around them and are not distracted by personal stereos, mobile phones or friends.
Refresh your Green Cross Code
- First find a safe place to cross and where there is space to reach the pavement on the other side. Where there is a crossing nearby, use it. It is safer to cross using a subway, a footbridge, an island, a zebra, pelican, toucan or puffin crossing, or where there is a crossing point controlled by a police officer, a school crossing patrol or a traffic warden.
Otherwise choose a place where you can see clearly in all directions. Try to avoid crossing between parked cars and on blind bends or close to the brow of a hill. Move to a space where drivers and riders can see you clearly. Do not cross the road diagonally.
- Stop just before you get to the kerb, where you can see if anything is coming. Do not get too close to the traffic. If there is no pavement, keep back from the edge of the road but make sure you can still see approaching traffic.
- Look all around for traffic and listen. Traffic could come from any direction. Listen as well, because you can sometimes hear traffic before you see it.
- If traffic is coming, let it pass. Look all around again and listen. Do not cross until there is a safe gap in the traffic and you are certain that there is plenty of time. Remember, even if traffic is a long way off, it may be approaching very quickly.
- When it is safe, go straight across the road do not run. Keep looking and listening for traffic while you cross, in case there is any traffic you did not see, or in case other traffic appears suddenly. Look out for cyclists and motorcyclists travelling between lanes of traffic.
Read up on road safety
For more information on how children can stay safe on the roads visit www.hedgehogs.gov.uk, full of interactive advice, games and competitions.
Visit the THINK! website for more information on the CopyCat campaign for parents.