Teaching Road Safety to Children

06 Oct 2021

Being one of the biggest fleet vehicle leasing companies nationwide, one of our biggest priorities is that our drivers and members of the public are safe on the road.

Although teaching road safety to adults is essential to keep our drivers safe, teaching road safety for children is of the utmost importance, as they will be the example to teach future generations the message of practising road safety. Therefore, ensuring that children are fully aware of the dangers and importance of keeping safe when on the road and how to keep themselves and others out of harm is crucial.

Road-Safety-For-Children

Whether you work in the fleet business and see the dangers of the road first-hand day-to-day, or you’re simply struggling with how to teach proper road safety to your own children, we’ve put together these tips to help you get the message home.

 1. Keep young children supervised on the road 

While it is important to teach children the independence to be safe on the road, young children need to have examples set on the proper ways to behave. Young children learn through observing the behaviour of others and then proceed to copy this behaviour. So, when taking your young child out, practising your road safety skills and setting a good example is the best thing you can do to teach them good road safety skills.

The most effective way to teach this for very young children is to hold their hand in busy areas or when crossing the road. While it is important not to scare children or make them afraid to walk by the road in public places, knowing the dangers and consequences of a busy road will help them be cautious and practise better road safety.

Things you can do:

  • Hold your child's hand when crossing the road or in busy areas
  • Use reins for toddlers who are walking for the first time
  • Get an older sibling to help show them what to do

2. Use road resources 

Specific resources have been built on the road for a good reason. Pedestrian crossings, traffic lights, and zebra crossings have all been put in place to help prevent road accidents and make pedestrian access safer, so children must know their purpose and how to use them. When out for a walk, make sure to explain to your children why the various type of road safety features have been put where they are and what the difference is between all of them.

Use-Road-Resources

3. Set a good example

Many parents may be tempted to jaywalk or walk across green traffic lights when in a rush when it appears to be quiet around with limited traffic. However, you never know when an accident could occur, and by observing your bad habits, your children will likely see this as okay behaviour and replicate it on their own. To make sure that they learn and practise proper road safety, follow all the road safety rules that you want them to practise themselves.

4. Teach them how to cross the road correctly

The green cross code is specifically designed to help children know the dos and don'ts when crossing a road. The following steps will teach your children how to keep safe by following each step.

How to cross a road safely:

  • Find a safe place to cross
  • Stand on the pavement near the kerb
  • Look all around for traffic and listen
  • If traffic is coming - let it pass, then look all around again
  • When there is no traffic near, walk straight across the road
  • Keep looking and listening for traffic while crossing

 5. Introduce them to road safety games and resources

Trying to teach your children the perfect road safety skills all by yourself can seem overwhelming. Thankfully, there is plenty of support and a wide variety of games, websites, and videos that can help you with teaching road safety to children whilst keeping it fun and entertaining for them.

Here is our list of the best websites and other media explaining road safety for children:

  • The Brake website is a charity specifically for road safety and has many resources and interactive content to help you with teaching road safety to children. From podcasts to videos and much more, they have plenty of free resources to help parents and school teachers teach children about the importance of road safety.
  • The THINK road safety campaign is one of the more established and trustworthy sites to teach your child road safety. They have resources for ages 3-16, so they have specialised material based on each stage of childhood and have a wealth of resources.
  • Virtual road world is a simulator-based game app that teaches road safety to children by helping them look at the real world and spot the dangers through playing a series of tasks and quests. Best suited for ages 6-8, the app makes children aware of what to look out for and correct them on their road safety skills in a fun way.
  • This page over at indirect explains road safety for seven to 11-year-olds, covering essentials like knowing the green cross code, tips for walking by a road, how to use crossings safely, along with bus safety guidance and help on walking to school safely.

Working to make roads safer

At SGFleet, we believe that teaching best practice road safety to children makes for an overall better driving experience for everyone. At the same time, we’re on hand to help people of all ages practise better driving behaviour – and are even able to support your fleet and drivers in following best practices and finding the best training available.

If you need a hand with anything safety-related, Call us on 0844 854 5100 or email CSalmon@sgfleet.com.

For additional information on road safety, check out the links below.

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