A new family of cartoon characters has been produced by Birmingham-based DriveSafe & StaySafe, in a bid to improve road safety awareness among children.
The social enterprise has teamed up with rock legend and philanthropist Rick Wakeman to produce ‘The Conies’ as a new multimedia initiative for primary schools.
The Conies will be officially launched on 1 October, the same day that smoking in a private vehicle carrying someone under the age of 18 years becomes illegal.
The Conies has been created with the support of the European Regional Development Fund, as a video series featuring a family of traffic cones who deliver road and personal safety messages through their comic adventures.
The series is supported by interactive games, teaching packs and other e-learning resources.
Fay Goodman, founder of DriveSafe & StaySafe, says the driving force behind the cartoon series was the first rise in child deaths and serious injuries in 20 years in the year ending September 2014.
Fay Goodman said: “The reversal in declining child road casualties has been down to increasing cuts in visible policing and road safety spending.
“The Conies will fill the gap left by the Green Cross Code Man campaign, which is estimated to have saved as many as 250,000 children from being injured or killed on our roads.
“The cartoon family live in a zany cone-shaped world where traffic signs come to life during their antics and adventures, making safety awareness learning for children stimulating and fun.”
DriveSafe & StaySafe has championed personal safety for many years with organisations including the NHS and the Institute of Directors, and small businesses and women’s and victim support groups.
The not-for-profit organisation published a driver’s handbook, ‘DriveSafe – An Essential Guide for Motorists’, in association with Aston University in 2012.
I await a cartoonised version for parents too, as it would appear they are incapable of teaching their offspring basic road sense. The Green Cross Code was not ‘baby-fied’. I applaud the intention, but to make characters from road cones?
Derek Reynolds, Salop.
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