 |
All aboard
for a lesson in bus safety
Following the success of its ‘Bus Safety’ campaign over
the last three years, Cornwall County Council’s Road Safety
Unit took the ‘Safe Bus’ to more schools again this year.
The initiative aims to encourage children to be mindful of their
own safety, and of others too, when using public transport.
The Road Safety Unit - in conjunction with Devon & Cornwall
Constabulary, Truronian and First National bus and coach companies
- launched Bus Safety Week at St Agnes School. The initiative also
visited schools in Perranporth, Stithians, St Day, Porthleven, St
Hilary, Kea, Devoran and Mount Hawke during the week.
"95 per cent of all collisions are caused by driver error,
which makes it extremely important that pupils travelling on a bus
understand that the very person they must rely upon to keep them
safe must not be prevented from driving safely," said project
coordinator Carol Wright. "This initiative aims
to help pupils understand the dangers they could face during their
journey to and from school and how to deal with them should they
occur."
 |
Year
6 children (age 11), who will be going on to secondary education
in September and will be travelling by bus, were given a pack for
themselves and their parents. The packs have information that emphasises
the importance of listening to any instructions and behaving sensibly
while waiting and travelling on the bus. The message for parents
is to discuss with their children how they can ‘Be Responsible,
Be Sensible and Be Safe’.
The lessons cover all aspects of bus travel, including:
- Queuing
sensibly
- Safe
storage of bags
- Not
distracting the driver
- Anti
social behaviour
- Fire
drill
"Children
may be well aware of the dangers of certain activities but the excitement
and energy from being part of a group can over-ride good sense,"
Youth Affairs Officer PC Steve Locke said. "It
is often the case that there is no adult supervision on a school
bus route and the driver can be responsible for the safety of the
passengers as well as driving the bus. How those passengers behave
can help or hinder the situation considerably."
The new Truronian yellow Scolabus was used to highlight the lessons
and make them more realistic for the children.
After the lesson the children were able to:
- Identify
safe procedures when travelling to and from school by bus
- Explain
how their behaviour affects the chances of an accident
- Demonstrate
how to exit the bus in the event of a fire or an accident
|
