Tips to keep the kids safe
Precautions for the most vulnerable
AS children are often too young and inexperienced to understand or judge the dangers that await them when using the roads, parents have a responsibility to look out for their safety. So what can you do to keep kids safe on the roads?
Children copy what they see, so it’s important to be a good example. When cycling or walking, make sure you can be seen and wear a high-visibility vest, an armband or a Sam Browne belt. ÷ If cycling with children, always make sure to stay behind the child and position yourself a little further to the right so that oncoming traffic will be able to see you all. ÷ Talk to them about road safety and teach them the Safe Cross Code. The RSA have created the Safe Cross Code song and dance which can be found on rsa.ie. It teaches children to ‘know the code to cross the road’ — Stop, Look & Listen. ÷ It is not recommended to let children under 12 years of age use the roads unaccompanied. This is because they don’t develop hazard perception skills until they are over 12. However, a parent will be best placed to judge the maturity of their child in making this decision.
Never leave an infant or young child in a vehicle unaccompanied, even if it’s only for a short period.
In urban areas, always reverse into a driveway so that you can ‘peep and creep’ when you drive out. This will increase your chances of seeing any children that may be playing or passing close to the driveway. ÷ The school drop-off and collection can be a dangerous time for children. Make sure to park your vehicle in a safe position so that you can safely accompany your child to the school gates. ÷ Since 2011, all buses involved in the organised transport of children must be fitted with seatbelts. This does not apply to buses used for public transport, but if your child is travelling on a school bus, make sure that the operator is compliant and completes a declaration to say the driver is licensed, the vehicle is roadworthy and the vehicle has a certificate of roadworthiness.
The RSA runs a number of competitions annually which encourage children to get involved and learn about road safety in a fun way.
The first is the Seatbelt Sheriff — an initiative aimed at children in first class and it asks that they create a poster that will get people to wear their seatbelt. It encourages children to become seatbelt sheriffs by taking a pledge to always make sure that everyone else in the car is wearing their seatbelt. The Hi-Glo Silver initiative is aimed at second class children, and it asks them to create a poster to get people to make sure they are seen by wearing high-visibility clothing when using the roads.
Hi-Glo Silver is the Seatbelt Sheriff’s horse and he encourages children to remind parents or guardians that they should wear high-visibility jackets when out walking or cycling.
The final competition is the annual Safe Cross Code dance competition, which involves national schools re-creating their version of the Safe Cross Code dance. The winners receive 30 tablet PCs for the class, a plaque that they can place in the school and a voucher for the teacher.