Children are being urged to ‘stop, look, listen, think’ in a new
road safety campaign launched by children’s presenter Sam
Homewood and THINK! today (16 May 2018).
The CiTV star visited Holy Family school in Walthamstow
to encourage children to think carefully about crossing roads as
new materials for teachers, parents and road safety experts were
released by THINK!.
A new Safer Journeys Anthem,
featuring the ‘stop, look, listen, think’ message, has also
been launched, alongside other games, films and lesson plans,
ahead of the half term and summer school holidays when children
are likely to be spending more time outdoors.
Road Safety Minister, , said:
“Britain has some of the safest roads in the world but we are
always looking at new ways to make them safer.
“As more children take advantage of the better weather by walking
to school or playing outside, it is important they know how to
cross roads safely.
“THINK!’s new resources will make it fun and easier than ever for
schools and parents to help children learn good habits that can
last a lifetime.”
The government’s THINK! campaigns have helped reduce child road
deaths by 90% since records began in 1979. However, 6 children
die and 170 more are seriously injured every month on the UK’s
roads.
Children’s presenter and CiTV star Sam
Homewood, who also features in one of the films, said:
“I’m delighted to be a part of this THINK! campaign to help
spread the word about road safety among young people.
“Working with children every day, I see the huge impact that
simple precautions can have on their lives. I hope this campaign
will help keep children safe on our roads and encourage them to
look out for each other.”
The resources include mobile games and educational films with
photographs and illustrations created by students from
Farnborough Sixth Form College. A new THINK! Map can help
children to pinpoint risky areas near them and consider the best
way to travel safely.
THINK! has been running campaigns for more than 50 years and has
successfully challenged a number of behaviours and attitudes to
improve road safety, including drink driving, drug driving and
using handheld phones while driving. THINK! campaigns have helped
reduce the number of deaths from 22 a day in 1960 to 5 a day in
2016.
The new campaign follows a long and a proud tradition of hugely
successful child road safety campaigns, spanning several
generations and featuring much-loved icons such as the family of
Hedgehogs, Kevin Keegan, James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth
Vader) and David Prouse as the Green Cross Code Man.
