Brake says that 26,000 children aged five and under from across the UK took part in the first of the charity’s 2015 Beep Beep! Days (18 March).
Brake encourages nurseries, playgroups, infant schools, children’s centres and childminders to stage a Beep Beep! Day, which involves activities including creating posters, experimenting with toy cars and singing road safety songs.
The charity says the activities help children to begin to understand road safety, and emphasise to parents and other adults their responsibilities in protecting children.
The dates for the other 2015 Beep Beep! Days are 8 July and 15 November.
To coincide with the Beep Beep! Day, Brake also published its latest survey which it says “puts the spotlight on irresponsible driving around schools and nurseries”.
In the survey of 1,000 parents of children aged 5-11 years, three in five respondents (59%) said they had “witnessing speeding” outside their child’s school or nursery, with the same number also reporting drivers “pulling out or turning without looking properly”.
47% reported “distracted driving” behavior such as drivers on phones, and 65% said they had witnessed “inconsiderate or illegal driving” around their child’s school.
Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said: “All children have the right to a healthy life, and to be able to play safely – rights that are universally enshrined in the UN convention on the rights of the child.
“And yet, in the UK, one of the most developed countries in the world, our children are often denied these rights because of the lethal danger posed by fast traffic and careless driving.
“As well as educating kids about road danger, we hope the Beep Beep! Day project will serve as an inspiration for parents and drivers to help reduce that danger.”
Comment on this story