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Road Safety For Children

So far for the year, two young children died on our roads after they disembarked from a mini-bus and attempted to cross the road.

 

Bearing in mind that children do not have the maturity to stay focus at all times, constantly talking about road safety to your children and teaching them how to be safe on the roads can go a long way in keeping them safe on the roads.

It is also very important that parents and adults set the correct examples when walking with children as this can help children form the correct habits in children.  This is also important as children usually do what they see parents do and over loading them with information might also cause them to forget.  So practice road safety with your children.

Here are some important and simple rules to use while teaching your children about road safety.

 

  • No running on the roads 
    Children are usually tempted to run where ever they see space, but help them to understand that they are not to run on the roads.  Teach them to walk briskly, stay calm and pay attention to what is happening on the road.  Use side walks were ever possible.

 

  • Listen to noises on the roads.  Sometimes you might not see a vehicle coming, but you might hear the engine of a vehicle or the car horn.

 

  • There must be no talking to cell phones or playing games while walking on the road.  

 

  • Teach children the road signs.

 

  • Always wait for traffic to stop before attempting to cross the road.
    After disembarking from a bus or any vehicle and there is a need to cross the road, children should look for the crossing and if there is no crossing the above applies.

 

  • Teach your children not to listen to drivers who encourage them to cross in front of their vehicles because the vehicle behind that is over taking may not be aware of some one crossing.

 

  • Use pedestrian crossings for crossing the road where ever there is
    one and if there are stop lights at the crossing, be guided by the lights as they would tell you when to cross.

 

  • Where there is no crossing, teach them how to choose a safe place to cross and that is on a straight road where they can see traffic coming.

 

  • Never cross in a bend

 

  • Never cross in between vehicles

 

  • Look to the right, then to the left to see if there are any approaching
    vehicles and then to the right again and if the road is clear, walk briskly
    across the road.

 

  • Remind children to wear appropriate colours on the road. Eg.  Do not let them dress in black when walking the road at night.​

Besides walking on the road, children also use bicycles on the road and they drive in vehicles and there are other road safety measures that they should know.

When riding a bicycle on the road, make sure that the brakes, lights and tyres are all in good working condition.  Like walking, children must pay attention and listen to other traffic on the road when they are riding.  There must be no horsing around on the bike and they must stay in their lanes and a good distance behind cars and not at the side of cars.  Bicycles are entitled to the same lane as a car.  Avoid letting your child ride on a busy road.

Road safety must be practiced even when in a moving vehicle such as a car. Children should wear the seat belts as required by law for children under the age of seven and older children must be buckle up when in the front seat of vehicles.  Make sure that your child knows that he or she is not to stick their hands or heads out of windows as this can result in serious injury or even death.

They should be seated at all times and should not be fidgeting around in moving vehicles.  When disembarking cars, children should wait until the car comes to a complete stop before opening the door and they should look to make sure that it is safe to open the door.

When on buses, children should remain seated and desist from moving around and clowning in the bus.  If there is a need to stand, they should hold on to the hand rail in the bus and stand behind the line at the front of the bus.
 

While teaching children about road safety, parents should remember that practicing what they tell children is most important and it also makes it easier for children to follow.  Here are some tips for you parents to think about.

 

  • Buckle up! – Ensure that your child always wears the seat belt, or is secured in a car seat.

  • Use the child lock feature to prevent young children from opening car doors by themselves.

  • Teach them about the rules practically – take them for walks and cycling, and teach them how to do it right.

  • Exhibit patience when driving – set an example for your kids to be calm and not rush on the road.

  • Be punctual and disciplined to avoid speeding and rash driving.Your driving habits are being observed by your children.

  • Do not use mobile phones or other gadgets when driving.

  • Never leave your kids alone in the car.

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