The London Road Safety Council (LRSC) is urging parents to take the opportunity over the summer holidays to speak to their children about road safety.
The call to action, timed to coincide with the launch of the LRSC’s ‘It’s a Jungle Out There’ campaign, is particularly focused on families with 11 and 12-year-olds who are about to transition from primary to secondary school, and who may be preparing to commute to and from a new school solo for the first time in September.
It comes amidst growing concern that the pandemic has impacted young peoples’ exposure to ‘road risks’ – with lockdown resulting in home schooling for many, and fewer cars on the roads.
As part of the campaign, parents and carers are being targeted via popular social media platforms, including Facebook, with a series of five videos encouraging them to ‘have a chat about road safety’ before their child sets off on a new journey to secondary school.
The social media posts will also link to the LRSC website, where the campaign resources are free to download, including a comprehensive 12-page road safety guide.
James Parker, executive officer at the LRSC, said: “Independently walking, cycling or taking public transport to school is, for many young people, a rite of passage, but the sad reality is that a significant number of incidents involving a child killed or seriously injured as a result of a road collision happen on the school run.
“Our new ‘It’s a Jungle Out There’ campaign will encourage families across London to have the conversation about what the risks of the road are, and how to safely navigate their way to and from school. Our ultimate mission is to ensure that every child gets home safely each evening.”
In 2016, a Public Health England School Journey Safety Guide cited that road collisions remain one of the main causes of premature death among children and young people aged 0-15 years, with 35% of child pedestrians killed or seriously injured during what is typically classified as the ‘school run’.
According to LRSC – a charity which includes elected member representatives from London Councils, Transport for London (TfL), as well Metropolitan Police and City of London Police forces – 28,000 people will be injured on roads in the Greater London Area this year, resulting in around 3,000 serious injuries or deaths.
The plea has also been backed by schools across London.
Jill Head, headteacher at Henry Maynard in Waltham Forest, said: “The end of the school year is always an exciting time for year six students with a lot of the focus, inevitably, on the increased freedom that will come with being a secondary school pupil – not least after the last year when so many were impacted by lockdown.
“For many of the children here at Henry Maynard though, from September they will also be making their way to and from school independently for the first ever time, using an unfamiliar route, and on unfamiliar roads.
“We’re therefore really grateful to the LRSC for providing us with information and resources that we can share with the children ahead of the summer break so that they can better understand how important road safety is and how best to protect themselves as they start to take on more independence.
“The statistics relating to road traffic collisions are scary, but as part of this campaign we are hoping to equip our students with just one of the life skills necessary to make this exciting transition safely.”
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