New book gets the wheels rolling to put the brakes on bad driving
A NEW book which aims to educate children as young as five about dangerous driving habits such as texting and road rage has been launched at a Glasgow school.
Ziggy’s Sports Day aims primarily to show parents and carers how bad driving habits can influence children, long before they get behind the wheel.
It was launched at St Albert’s Primary School in Glasgow yesterday and will be distributed to schools across Scotland.
The book focuses on three main areas – staying calm behind the wheel, being courteous to other drivers, and making the car a phone-free zone, and pupils will be encouraged to take the book home to read with their parents or carers.
Written by children’s author Lynda Kennedy and illustrated by Lynn Taylor, the story features a character called Ziggy who has recently landed on Earth and needs help navigating the planet’s road systems.
Dr Neale Kinnear, a chartered psychologist, said: “While there are many ways that children learn, one of the most influential is simply learning from their environment and experiences. Research has found that parents’ driving records are predictive of their children’s records.
“The behaviours caregivers elicit in the car, both good (e.g. putting on a seatbelt) and bad (e.g. texting while driving), are always being observed and provide learning opportunities. Repeatedly doing these behaviours makes them appear habitual and acceptable and demonstrates how parents and caregivers can influence a child’s future safety by being positive role models in the car.
“This campaign seeks to promote this, including simple positive behaviours such as always putting a seatbelt on, never using your phone while driving and being courteous to other road users. Doing these things will improve safety now, and in the future.”
Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, said: “Children who regularly witness bad driving habits such as anger, frustration or texting behind the wheel, may pick up these habits and carry them into adulthood as they begin to learn to drive themselves.
“As young drivers continue to be over-represented in Scottish road casualty statistics, it’s as important as ever to be talking to parents and children about this in order to shape the habits of our future generation of drivers.”
‘‘ Research found that parents’ driving records are predictive of their children’s records