Road safety lessons ensure school children don’t run the RISK

Dave Godley with the Y7SF class

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Pupils at Hollingworth High School in Milnrow took part in an interactive session on road safety.

Children between the ages of 11 and 13 are three times more likely to be involved in a road traffic incident of some kind than any other age group so a session called RISK has been specially created FOR Year 7 pupils to target those age groups.

Rochdale Council Casualty Reduction Officers Dave Godley and Stuart Howarth engage directly with pupils and discuss issues, such as the new-found freedoms experienced following the transition from primary school to high school, longer journeys taken to and from school and causation factors, such as being distracted by friends or a lack of attention being paid to the road.

In-car safety is also discussed, highlighting the importance of wearing a seatbelt at all times after a number of a hands-up surveys resulted in a high number of pupils admitting to not wearing a seatbelt, particularly in the backseat where parents cannot see them.

Speaking after his presentation to the pupils, Dave Godley said: “We really enjoy delivering these lessons, and we try to make them as informative for the kids as possible. It’s particularly heart-breaking when a child has been involved in a road traffic incident, and therefore, satisfying for us to know that we’re doing something to try and prevent this from happening.”

The team also provide lessons to Years 8-11 across the Borough, covering a variety of road safety issues, with around 10,000 pupils taking part in the lessons each school year. The Council’s Highways team is always willing to provide resources to any member of the community who requires road safety information. To request these resources, please e-mail; highways@rochdale.gov.uk

Cllr Jacqui Beswick, cabinet member for place and regulation, said: “Within Greater Manchester, Rochdale’s child casualty figures have remained in the lower half of the statistics. Hopefully, by continuing these road safety lessons, these figures will continue to drop, as it is through the education of all road users, including pedestrians, that we will be able to make our roads even safer.”

For more information on a variety of issues, visit the government website THINK!; http://think.direct.gov.uk/