TEENAGE ROAD SAFETY

Unfortunately, we have had another report of some students taking risks when crossing the London Road. The students ran across the road in front of the traffic when the pedestrian lights were red, nearly causing an accident. Please can you reinforce the importance of road safety to your child. Below is some useful information for parents on how to help your teenager stay safe.

Help protect your child

You could talk to your child and reinforce road safety messages to help keep them safe:

• stress the need to concentrate and be careful at all times
• warn of the dangers of distractions - personal stereos, texting, phoning or even chatting to friends while walking are big distractions
• talk about the dangers of traffic
• point out people who are endangering themselves
• stress that your child should never lose concentration and follow others blindly into dangerous situations

Cycling

It is a good idea to:

• buy and encourage your teenager to wear a cycle helmet, and something fluorescent and reflective to improve their visibility
• encourage your child never to take lifts on the back of a friend’s bike
• ask your child never to listen to music while they are cycling
• make sure your child knows that cyclists must obey all traffic signs and traffic light signals

Bus safety

Your teenagers probably take the bus to school and back all the time, maybe even every day. In fact, they’re probably so used to it, they do it without paying much attention. But not paying attention could cost them their lives. It only takes a moment’s lapse of concentration to cause death or serious injury.

So your children should always expect the unexpected and never take risks going to and from the bus or crossing roads nearby. You should remind them:

• just because they’re not small children does not mean they should not use The Green Cross Code
• just because their friends are chatting doesn’t mean it’s safe for them
• most school bus related collisions happen to pupils before they get to or after they leave the bus

Reinforce their skills

Talking to your teenager often about road safety will keep it fresh in their minds. You could ask your child where the risks for example hidden entrances are on their route, or play games guessing what speed cars are travelling.

You could also talk about the routes your child takes regularly, and ask questions about what is on the route to see if they take notice of their environment.

Peace of mind

For your peace of mind, have routines that you can both stick to. You could try discussing the following points and finding an answer for each of them:

• What will they do if they miss the last bus home?
• Do they have a mobile (fully charged), a phone card, money or know how to reverse the charges if they need you?
• What should your teenager do if they have to stay behind at school?