Road Safety

Around 5,000 children under the age of 16 die or are seriously injured on Britain’s roads each year

• Nearly two in three road accidents happen when children are walking or playing.
• Almost two-thirds of child accident victims are boys.
• As a child gets older the risk of a road accident increases.
• A child from a low-income family is five times more likely than a child from a high-income family to be killed on the road.
• Children from an ethnic minority are involved in up to twice as many accidents while walking or playing as the national average.
• The risk of being involved in a road accident when walking or playing is more than 10 times greater for a child with hearing difficulties.

There are no statutory requirements relating to road safety from the DfE, however Road Safety is an essential life skill which every primary school should deliver, appropriate to the age and needs of the children.

Objectives may include

• To reflect on the benefits of being a road user, to identify some dangers and understand how to stay safer as a pedestrian and car passenger.
• To identify new risky situations due to increasing independence and consider safety implications.
• To explore situations where they have responsibility for their own safety and that of others.
• To understand and practise a range of strategies to reduce risk.

To identify safety issues when cycling and develop understanding of how to stay safe on the roads.

There are no statutory requirements relating to road safety from the DfE, however Road Safety is an essential life skill which every secondary school should deliver, appropriate to the age and needs of the student.

• Know their responsibilities as a pedestrian, a passenger and a future driver.
• Know about issues affecting young drivers such as peer pressure, speeding, seatbelts, inexperience and overconfidence.
• Have the communication skills that allows them to speak up in potentially dangerous and difficult road safety scenarios to influence a safer outcome.