Road Safety Week

In the UK, on average, someone is killed or seriously injured on a road every 20 minutes. Young people aged 17-24 are also over-represented in road crash statistics- although they make up only 7% of licence holders, they represent more than 20% of drivers killed or seriously injured in car crashes. Brake is a road safety charity who work to inspire thousands of schools, organisations and communities to take action on road safety and shout out for our right to make safe and healthy journeys every day!

This year the Road Safety theme is built on the message ‘Be a Road Safety Hero’, celebrating the work of road safety professionals and how we can all play a part in making journeys safer for everyone…but you may ask, what does this have to do with me?

Can you believe that there is no UK statutory expectation for schools to teach road safety in the curriculum? It is up to the school to decide if and what they teach both at Primary and Secondary. Thankfully most schools do take part in initiatives that raise awareness of road dangers and encourage children and young people to choose active travel, to benefit their own health and the health of the planet. However, you may think that not enough is being done and road safety week could be the chance for you to raise awareness and highlight the importance of safe and healthy mobility.
Pupils aged 8-14 are easily distracted and ,therefore, are at a higher risk around traffic. Teenagers tend to display more risky behaviour as road users than adults because of factors such as failure to perceive danger or impulsiveness. However, there has always been a general feeling that secondary schools consider road safety teaching to be a job for primary schools even though the statistics will tell you that it is the teenagers who are most at risk.

Road Safety Week could empower you to be a road safety hero and campaign for more awareness and focus on the influence of peers and social media as well as activities that are based on current and real life issues. Your school may be near to a busy road with heavy fast traffic, or parental parking near to the school maybe an issue making it difficult to make safe choices. Would raising awareness about no need to speed near to school be more beneficial or asking drivers and cyclists to be bike smart be more appropriate? Using your phone whilst driving or crossing the road makes you four times more likely to be involved in a serious crash so this could be your message instead or a focus on using seat belts whilst in a car as on average more than a fifth of car occupants killed in road crashes in Britain were not wearing a seat belt even though wearing a seat belt can reduce the risk of death by up to 50%. Shockingly in a crash, a back-seat passenger not wearing a seat belt can be thrown forward with enough force to kill the person in front of them.

The good news is that death and serious injury from road collisions are preventable, if people who design, build and use roads all share responsibility for road safety. Be part of that journey – to find out more about road safety in schools go to www.brake.org.uk.