Lancashire school children make road safety choice

Thousands of Lancashire primary school pupils are set to undergo road safety training to prepare them for secondary school as part of Lancashire County Council's Making Choices scheme. Around 22,000 final year pupils will take part in the project, which aims to equip children with the necessary skills to deal with increased independence and longer journeys.

The latest figures show that road traffic accidents cause over 70 per cent of all accidental deaths for children of school age, with child pedestrian casualties peaking at age 12 - the age at which most children transfer to secondary school. Making Choices is an attempt to reduce the number of accidents involving children.

The project is funded by the DfT and offers road safety advice in the form of workbooks, lesson plans and parent guides.

"Making Choices is being used as part of schools' existing transition programmes giving children more grown up information about road safety, and giving them the independence to make the right decisions as they begin to travel unsupervised further and more often," said Clare Farrer, principal road safety adviser.

The programme is initiated in the final term of primary school and continues into secondary education. After a 100 per cent take up from secondary schools in last year's pilot, the Road Safety Group is expecting further success by encouraging increased involvement from primary schools and parents.

Amanda Gregory, head teacher at Harris Primary School, Fulwood, says the initiative is very useful. "Making the change to secondary school involves many issues such as organising new daily routines, which can often overshadow safety. We need to ensure that children are aware of their surroundings and capable of making safe decisions."

The series is available to all primary and secondary schools in Lancashire. To find out more about the Making Choices resource call Ann Quinlan on 01772 531048.