Road Safety Minister has launched a new road safety
campaign aimed at teachers and schools to help cut child
fatalities.
A recent survey revealed that 67% of children get fewer than 2
hours of road safety education in their whole time at school and
the new THINK! campaign will help schools and teachers highlight
the dangers of the road and encourage best practice for children.
The government’s iconic THINK! campaigns have helped reduce child
road deaths by 90% since records began in 1979.
Road Safety Minister, , said:
We have some of the safest roads in the world and in the last
ten years child road deaths have fallen by more than half. But
there is no room for complacency.
Teachers are already doing great work but it’s important we in
government do everything we can to help teach our children
these important safety skills. These new resources should make
that easier than ever.
The latest THINK! campaign will feature a wide range of brand new
education resources, including easy to follow lesson plans, 2 new
films co-created with school children and a song in a bid to make
teaching road safety lessons easier and more accessible.
The first documentary-style film follows a group of school
children as they act out how to cross the road safely after
learning to use the Stop, Look, Listen, Think code. The second
film follows another 6 children on their different journeys to
school, including walking, cycling and scooting. They explain
their top tips for getting to school safely in the form of a new
road safety song.
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 current
levels of 5.
These new resources follow 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.
The first phase of resources, aimed at 3 to 6 year olds,
are on the Think! website. The
next 2 phases for ages 7 to 12 and 13 to 16 will follow in the
new year.
To be the first to hear about the new resources, register your
interest at: think.direct.gov.uk/signup
