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Road safety has always been a priority for families, but it’s more important than ever given that 91% of homes now have at least one car available and almost 300 million vehicles roam the asphalt nationally.
In this context, you’ll need to raise awareness in Children about road safety from the earliest possible moment.
Here’s how to do this engagingly and memorably, so that it doesn’t feel like a chore.
Making Road Safety a Game
Each day, 3 children are killed and 445 injured on the roads, according to NHTSA records, which reinforces once again the need to find inventive ways to make them aware of the perils they face.
In particular, pedestrian fatalities are an issue for youngsters, with 23% of deaths involving children aged between 1 and 3, based on the latest IIHS-HLDI figures. Even if your little one is just injured in this type of collision, you’ll need a personal injury lawyer specializing in accidents involving pedestrians to get the most favorable outcome.
But to limit the likelihood of this type of disaster ever befalling your brood, here are some tips for gamifying road safety:
- Intrigue with Interaction: Begin with games that mirror real traffic situations. Engage children with interactive board games where they learn the rules of the road – stop lights, crossings, and pedestrian right-of-way. Examples like Thinkfun’s Rush Hour and Roadblock tick all the boxes here.
- Role-play Realities: Set up a simulated street scene at home or in a safe outdoor space. Assign roles to your children – some as drivers, others as pedestrians or cyclists – and guide them through various scenarios. This form of kinesthetic learning solidifies their understanding of road safety as they physically navigate mock crosswalks and interpret hand signals.
- Reinforce with Rewards: Integrate a reward system to encourage adherence to safety rules during these activities. Whether earning points for correct actions or receiving badges for ‘safe behavior,’ positive reinforcement can make the education process effective and enjoyable.
Setting Boundaries for Safety
Putting ground rules for road safety in place, sticking to them yourself, and showing your kids how to follow them to the letter is another good move. Don’t take a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ approach here, as it could come back to bite you. Here are some ways to do this:
- Ground Rules Are Golden: Establish a set of non-negotiable road safety rules for your family. It’s a little like creating a constitution that governs how your children engage with roads and traffic. Stopping at the right places, taking advantage of safety barriers, listening for traffic, only crossing when it’s clear and safe, and being aware of other hazards such as cyclists should all come into play here.
- Visible Vests, Safe Steps: Make it a rule that whenever walking near roads, especially in low light conditions or at night, high visibility clothing is worn. This simple practice can sharply increase a child’s visibility to drivers.
- Hand in Hand, Land to Land: Teach children that crossing any street requires holding hands with an adult or older sibling until a certain age. Cement this habit by practicing together regularly on quiet local streets before gradually advancing to busier intersections.
The Bottom Line
Hammering home the role of road safety as soon as possible will give your children valuable lessons to take with them throughout their lives, so it really is not something you can overlook or expect to be handled by someone else. While they may get further instruction on this at school, you need to take the lead, and be a good example in your own road use as well.
