As a child I had dreadful road sense, to the point that I was 13 years old before my mum let me walk down our street and cross the road to go shopping in the town centre with my friend. I honestly had no awareness of cars around me, or the speed at which they could travel. I remember walking home with this friend, and our elder sisters from the school bus stop one Winter's day, and my friend's sister having to grab my arm and yank me back from the oncoming bus.
Literally no road safety awareness.
I think this is why I am so keen to teach The Boy about the green cross code from such a young age, ensuring that every time we cross the road we do so on a clear bit of road if a pedestrain crossing is not available, look both ways several times listening out for traffic as well as looking, and only cross when it is safe.
It's hard enough as it is in the Summer with good visibility, let alone in the Winter when it is dark at 3.45pm!
This is one of the reasons why The Co-operative Funeralcare have launched their popular and effective campaign 'Be Safe, Be Seen'; to ensure that children can be seen by drivers during the Winter months. The campaign started after the clocks went back a few weeks ago, and branch staff and funeral directors will be delivering badges to schools in the forthcoming weeks.
I'm not going to pretend that there's not an elephant in the room.
There is.
'Funeralcare'.
But that's exactly why The Co-operative are running this campaign, because they don't want you to need their services for your children. That's why over the past 5 years they have given out over 160,000 badges to 1,500 schools and youth groups. They also deliver school assemblies or lessons about road safety prepared by road safety charity Brake for children between the ages of 3 and 7 years.
Here are some of the very handy tips which can you can share with your children to help them learn about road safety, particularly at night:
- Look out for and encourage your children to be aware of hidden entrances or driveways when crossing pavements.
- Make sure your children walk on the side of pavements away from the traffic.
- When crossing the road your child should always choose a safe place and time to cross. It’s always safer to cross at a pedestrian or patrolled crossing.
- Avoid crossing between parked cars as drivers won’t be able to see children who do this very well.
Please watch the video to find out more of the very sensible tips to keep your child safe and seen.
You can read more about the 'Be Safe, Be Seen' campaign by visiting the campaign page, or following The Co-operative on twitter via CoopFuneralcare or TheCooperative.
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