Government is taking a new approach to warning children about the dangers they can face on our roads, following new research that shows today's 6-11-year-olds need bolder and more forthright communication about road safety than ever before.
A new £1.5m THINK! campaign unveiled today by Road Safety Minister Jim Fitzpatrick graphically spells out the dangers of not crossing the road safely and highlights the need to 'stop, look and listen' every time.
Jim Fitzpatrick said:
"More than 9,000 children were killed or hurt on British roads last year. This tragically underlines why we must continue to teach our children how to safely use the road.
"Previous Government campaigns have been very effective in teaching children about road safety. But because today's 6-11-year-olds are exposed to new media like computer games and the internet their attitudes to communications have become more sophisticated. This means they need the real world dangers of not using roads safely spelled out in a new, more realistic way.
"Our roads are some of the safest in the world, but any death is one too many and that is why we remain determined to continue to do everything we can to make our roads even safer."
In the East of England the number of children killed or seriously injured last year was 265. County by county this breaks down as follows:
Bedfordshire: 22
Cambridgeshire: 49
Essex: 94
Herts: 42
Norfolk: 33
Suffolk: 25
In Cambridge today pupils at Park Street C of E Primary School watched the new adverts and then played a game which involved testing their concentration as they crossed the road outside the school while texting their friends on mobile phones or playing on their games consoles.
Dorothy Betts, Headteacher of Park Street Primary School said:
"When children are very familiar with their surroundings they can sometimes forget to take care when crossing the road. This is particularly the case outside our school which is in a quiet residential area where the roads are narrow. This new campaign will help to remind them and to alert them to the dangers of crossing the road."
Lyn Hesse, Road Safety Officer for Cambridgeshire County Council, who was also at the school today, said:
"The Department for Transport's hedgehog campaign has been both popular and successful for the under six age group. However 'Tales of the Road' is a new innovative resource which will help us deliver the child pedestrian messages to Cambridgeshire children.
"The County Council works hard to improve road safety for children. Over the last ten years there has been a 40 per cent drop in the number of primary school children hurt on Cambridgeshire's roads despite a 30 per cent rise in traffic over the same period. Our ongoing support for Government's national road safety campaigns will enable us to continue reducing child casualties in Cambridgeshire."
'Tales of the Road' was devised following in-depth research with both parents and children who felt that a forthright campaign showing the consequences of both good and bad road safety behaviour was needed to make an impression on today's children. This generation of six-11-year-olds is exposed to a greater variety of media than ever before from computer games and the internet to 24-hour news.
The campaign will use animated characters to tell a series of cautionary tales each focusing on a different aspect of road safety. The first advert, 'The Boy Who Did Not Stop, Look and Listen', will air from Monday 17th November and aims to demonstrate to children the importance of taking care when crossing or playing near roads.
The television adverts will be accompanied by a new website with interactive games for children and educational material for teachers and parents.
The Government is also investing £140m in the Travelling to School project and another £140m in cycling, which includes funding for an extra 500,000 10 year-olds across England to take part in Bikeability cycle training, while the THINK! Copycat campaign reminds parents of the need to set a good example to their children on road safety.
