Slow Down For Road Safety Week


Eight children killed everyday on UK roads

Ealing pupils will be learning how to stay safe on the roads as part of National Road Safety Week.

This year’s theme is ‘Kids Say Slow Down’ and schools across the borough will be holding a series of activities from 22- 26 November to promote better safety on the road and encourage drivers to slow down.

Pupils aged four to 16 will also be taking part in a competition organised by Ealing Council. The children will be asked to create a road safety poster and the top five designs will each win a bike and cycling accessories.

Ealing’s record on road safety is good compared with many other London borough’s, but one child in every two thousand in the borough is still involved in a collision as either a pedestrian or cyclist every year.

Driving too fast is one of the biggest causes of deaths and injuries of children on the road. Eight children a day are killed on UK roads and at least two are killed as a result of speeding.

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, cabinet member for Transport and Environment said: “The consequences of speeding can be devastating. Ealing’s road safety record is improving year on year, but it needs to be even better. We want to use Road Safety Week to raise awareness of what it means to speed, especially around schools and in built up areas, and to encourage young people to have a better awareness of the vehicles on the road.”

The winners of the road safety poster competition will be announced on Monday 6 December.

For more information on National Road Safety Week, go to www.roadsafetyweek.org.

 

 

 

 

17th November 2010