How To Keep Children Safe On The Roads.

There is a general worry in the UK that the number of road traffic accidents involving children is on the increase. It goes without saying that is a parent’s worse nightmare to hear that there child has been knocked down and injured by a car. But there are a few things that you can do to teach your child about the importance of road safety and help to keep them safe on our roads.

A lot the road traffic accidents that involve children occur simply because a child does not understand the dangers of the road and does not think twice about running out into the road. This can leave the driver very little time to react and attempt to avoid a collision. As a parent, road safety should be part of your child’s upbringing and education. It is imperative to ensure that your child is road aware and knows just how dangerous vehicles can be.

The statistics show that in 2007 a reported 169 children were killed on UK roads. The survey also showed that 71 of these deaths were child pedestrians, this was an increase of 13% on the previous year, and the number of children killed while cycling rose by a massive 55%. Of course, children of all ages are danger on the roads but it is thought that those under 9 years old are particularly at risk. This is because they can find it hard to deal with the mechanics of traffic and how the road systems work. They are also very small in stature and may find it difficult to see over parked cars to see if it is safe to cross the road. This can also be a problem for drivers as they may find it difficult to see such a small person. Young children can have a hard time accurately judging when it is safe to cross the road as their skills involving judgement are not properly developed at this age. This means that they will find it difficult to judge how far a car is and how fast an approaching car is travelling.

However, there are some things that you can teach your child to help them become more road aware and competent at crossing the road. For example, when you child is still under five it is important that you lead by example when crossing the road. You should talk them through the safest way to cross the road. Your child will almost certainly copy the way in which you act and you should bear this in mind whenever you are crossing the road and should avoid dashing across the road as your child will then think that this is ok.

When your child gets a little older, say five to nine years old, you can now start to instill in them the importance of good road sense and they should start to understand the reasons why they need to be so careful. It is important when out and about with your child to talk them through the road signs that you see and how traffic lights work and what they mean. You should encourage them to show you safe places to cross the road and the reasons why it is safe. You should also be encouraging your child to put on their seat belts when they get in the car and check that they are secured properly. The most effective way of teaching your child good road sense is to stick to the ‘Stop, Look, Listen and Think’ method. This will ensure that they stop when they reach the kerbside, look both ways, listen for any oncoming vehicles and then think about whether it is safe or not to cross the road.

Once your children have reached double figures, they are usually quite good at coping with road traffic but you still need to keep an eye on them. You should start to introduce some basic road laws to your child’s road knowledge. Things like how roundabouts work, how give ways operate will all help them to understand where traffic is coming from and why.

Of course, even when all these learning processes have been put in place, accidents can still happen. If you or your child have been unfortunate enough to be involved in a road traffic accident that was somebody else’s fault then you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Accident Consult today for more information on your case.

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