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.
In the South West alone, 39 children were killed or seriously injured on Devon's roads last year. In Dorset the figure was 37 with a further 28 in Somerset and 17 in Cornwall.
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."
The South West campaign launch was held at Shiphay School in Torquay today and will use animated characters to tell a series of cautionary tales each focusing on a different aspect of road safety.
The television adverts will be accompanied by a new website with interactive games for children and educational material for teachers and parents which will go live on 17 November.
