Three reasons you should teach your child about road safety:
- Over the last five years more than 1200 child pedestrians have been killed or injured on New Zealand roads.
- Nationally, child pedestrian injury is one of the ten most common causes of injury hospitalization.
- The hours just before and after school (8am – 9am and 3pm – 5pm) are peak injury times for child pedestrians.
Keep your speed down around schools!
Are you aware that risk of death to pedestrians rises from 10% when hit by a car doing 30kph to 70% at 50 kph and 90% at 60kmph!
26 judgement skills are needed to cross the road safely
Competency in a range of primary perceptuo-motor and cognitive skills are needed. Until the age of 10 years children have difficulty assessing vehicle approach time because they can not understand the relationship between duration, velocity and distance.
Crossing the road requires dealing with traffic coming from two different directions. This requires the ability to divide attention, to hold information in memory and to coordinate and then integrate this information.
Children lack the ability to make reasoned decisions in traffic. It’s never too early and children are never too old to be taught about road safety.
Click below for some age-appropriate tips on educating your child about road safety.
0 - 2 years
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2 - 4 years
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5 - 7 years
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7 - 9 years
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10 years +
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- Talk to your child about where and why you are crossing the road, and why you chose this point to cross. Select a safe crossing with good visibility. Remember your child will copy your example, good or bad!
- Push your stroller on the house side of the footpath.
- Read stories and listen to songs with a road safety focus.
- Hold your child’s hand while walking with them and ensure your child is on the house side of the foot path.
- Use Stop, Look and Listen to cross the road. Get down to your child’s height. Look and listen. Discuss where to look and why.
- Start the habit of your child wearing a safety helmet when using wheeled toys.
- When your child starts school, walk with them holding their hand.
- Decide with your child safe places to cross the road, explain the purpose of pedestrian crossings and traffic lights.
- Continue to use Stop, Look and Listen. You can start involving your child in problem solving, rather than just telling them what to do, for example “You tell me when we should cross”.
- At school pick up time, park your car in a safe place and walk to get your child. Make sure your child knows not to run across the road to your car.
- Teach your child never to play on the road. If a ball runs onto the road they must not run onto the road to fetch it. They need to follow the Stop, Look and Listen rule.
- Teach your child about sneaky driveways. Driveways often have vehicles coming in and out of them, and often bushes or fences hide them. Encourage your child to stop and check for cars coming from both directions in the driveway, then cross as they would for crossing the road.
- Car parks are hazardous. Teach your child to wait for instructions from you before getting out of the car. Teach them that they should always get out on the footpath side of the car, or if in the middle of the car park, to wait by the car door.
- As your child gets older, give them some independence and help them plan a safe route to school.
- Teach your child what to do in an emergency situation. Teach your child to recite their name, address and telephone number and how to dial 111 in an emergency.
- From time to time, check on your child’s skills as a pedestrian.
- Talk about cycle helmets and cycle safety. Encourage your child to wear high visibility so that your child is clearly visible to motorists.
- Ensure your child does not ride on the road unaccompanied until your child is 10, and then only if your child is competent.
- Start talking about the road rules and laws, why we have them and the consequences of not following them.
- Teach your child how to get help in an emergency situation. Ensure your child knows to recite their name, address and telephone number and how to dial 111 in an emergency.
- Your child will want to travel independently. Whilst it is important to allow this, from time to time check in on their skills as a pedestrian.
- If riding a bike, ensure your child is wearing a cycle helmet and riding safely. Encourage your child to wear high visibility clothing so that your child is easily visible to motorists.
- Remind your child about road rules and the consequences of not following them.
- Being more independent, unanticipated events occur. Never assume your child will know what to do if something changes in their normal routine. Discuss some of these events in advance and decide on the safest options.
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