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Road Safety

Road Safety for Young People

think logoInjuries to children are particularly distressing and preventing them is no easy matter. Training, education and adult supervision help. The challenge is to reduce the risks of injury but without keeping children away from the experience of coping with traffic.

  • Around 5,000 children under the age of 16 die or are seriously injured on Britain’s roads each year
  • Nearly two in three road accidents happen when children are walking or playing
  • Almost two-thirds of child accident victims are boys
  • As a child gets older the risk of a road accident increases
  • A child from a low-income family is five times more likely than a child from a high-income family to be killed on the road
  • Children from an ethnic minority are involved in up to twice as many accidents while walking or playing as the national average
  • The risk of being involved in a road accident when walking or playing is more than 10 times greater for a child with hearing difficulties
  • Find out more about road safety and young people in the UK by reading ''The Facts About Road Accidents and Children'' from the AA Motoring Trust.

What's Devon County Council doing to help?

  • We provide traffic calming, and other speed reduction measures, especially in residential areas and around schools
  • We provide information packs for pre-school and nursery teachers
  • We provide advice and guidance to parents, health and care professionals on the fitting and safe use of in-car restraints for young children.  Visit our Child In-Car Safety page for more information.
  • We provide materials and support for teachers dealing with road safety in school
  • Get across road safety 0-6 years image - PDF icon (819KB - pdf help)
  • Get across road safety 7-10 years image - PDF icon (580KB - pdf help)
  • We provide training for adults who want to run pedestrian and cyclist training courses
  • Supporting Safer Journeys to School programmes
  • Setting up pre-licence driving courses for 16-17 year olds - at Devon Drivers' Centre
  • Working with the police to run Junior Life skills schemes
  • Making school transport and school crossing patrols as safe as possible.
  • We have a team of Officers working with schools to develop School Travel Plans, making the journey to school safer, healthier and greener.

What can you do to help?

  • Use a child restraint in your car for every journey your child makes with you - visit our Child In-Car Safety pages to find out more about buying and fitting restraints suitable for your child.
  • Make sure your child has a safe route to school. Set a good example and supervise young children when they are out cycling and encourage the use of cycle helmets
  • Drive extra slowly along roads when young children are around.
  • Volunteer as a reserve School Crossing Patrol or cycle trainer.

If you are a teacher, consider how road safety can be incorporated into Personal, Social and Health Education or other parts of the curriculum. You can download both primary and secondary school resources from the DTLR website. You can also email your requirements to the Road Safety Help Desk.

Why not help your school to develop a School Travel Plan?

A School Travel Plan is:

  • A programme and partnership which aims to :
           - reduce car travel
           - improve safety and the environment for walkers and cyclists
           - help improve facilities for walkers and cyclists
           - help improve bus and train services
  • An outline of the school's needs and problems regarding travel to and from school
  • A document written by the school

Find out more information from Devon County Council's School Travel Plan pages or contact the School Travel Plan team on 01392 383700 or email stplans@devon.gov.uk

The Department for Transport also publishes a range of useful guides and documents on school travel planning.  These include:

  • A Safer Journey to School - a guide to school travel plans
  • School Travel Resources
  • Including advice on:
    • Information Leaflets
    • Our children's health
    • Our children's safety
    • Making the journey safer
    • Involving pupils
    • Working with the community
    • Working with business
    • Getting the message across

The School Travel Resource Pack also includes a Sample News Release, the travel to school survey questionnaire, an OHP presentation with slides and notes (for use with groups involved in developing travel plans); a list of useful publications.

For more information about road safety for young people see the web sites and documents below:

For information about road safety initiatives for young people in Devon see the archived press releases below:

   

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Page Updated 18/05/03