Over 30,000 children have been killed or seriously injured in the last 10 years on Britain's roads (AXA RoadSafe report). In Cornwall, we have found that more often than not it is the fault of the pedestrian.
To address this, we have a completely free “Distractions” programme aimed at Year 7 students. We find that upon reaching this age group, most students have their own mobile phone and are spending an increasingly significant amount of time as pedestrians, without adult guidance. Mobile phones are generally considered the single largest distraction to young people today.
Our Distractions programme is designed to remind students of the hazards of crossing the road and how important it is to give the road their full attention, and not to assume vehicles will always be able to see them and stop in time.
We use a series of mini activities and videos to raise their awareness and demonstrate these hazards, before discussing what steps and coping strategies they can take to make them safer. The students then use a ‘Promise Card’ to pledge to make a small change. We have identified that the act of writing a change is powerful and more likely to lead to a change in their behaviour.
This programme is generally an hour long, although can be slightly shortened or extended to fit with schools’ timetables. It is available to all Year 7 classes in every secondary school in Cornwall. For more information, or to request a visit, please contact us at roadsafety@cornwall.gov.uk.
If you are involved with young people and would like to deliver some road safety education yourself, then please read teaching young people about road safety, which has lesson plans, resources and activities to help.
Park and Stride
Park and Stride is an initiative which operates within Cornwall, a simple idea to encourage families to use one of a number of agreed Cornwall Council car parks to park up and walk the remainder of their journey to school. This supports both the Health and Climate Change agendas.
The initiative also encourages and supports healthier, happy children and alleviates congestion at the school gates, a common problem at many schools.
If you are a school that currently has permits issued to you on an annual basis, but you need to discuss further, please contact parkingpermitenquiries@cornwall.gov.uk
Active Travel Resources for Schools
Find more Park and Stride information on the Living Streets website.