Road Safety for Kids - Top Tips

Teaching our children the importance of road safety is crucial. We hope that these child road safety tips prove useful in equipping your children for safety when outside.

All children are different. However, it is likely that young kids are unable to judge the speed and distance of oncoming cars. You should avoid allowing children to navigate crossings unsupervised until they are confident and you have seen them confidently make good choices when crossing the roads.

1. Put Devices Away

You should teach kids to put phones and other devices away when crossing the road. It is especially important that you reinforce this message with teenagers. Teens are the most likely group to be involved in accidents as pedestrians.

It is important to practice what you preach, so setting a good example will help. You should also put your phone aside when walking around cars.

2. Recognise Dangerous Areas

It can be easy to focus on dangerous main roads when educating kids. However, some of the most unsafe areas for children are places like housing estates and shopping centres. Ensure to tell your children to take extra care when playing on the roads and cul-de-sacs of housing estates. Also, explain the hazards of playing in and around driveways.

3. Be Safe and Be Seen

Always encourage children to wear reflective or high-vis clothing at night and on country roads. Also, use a torch on roads that are poorly lit and especially on country roads. Lead by example and also wear reflective clothing while walking.

4. Bike Safety on the Road

To reduce the risks to your child when cycling they should always wear a helmet that fits correctly, along with reflective or high-vis clothing. Ensure the bicycle's brakes, lights, reflectors, tyres, and bell are all working.

As an adult make sure your child knows how to cycle properly. They should be aware of the workings of the bike, especially the brakes. Ensure that they have the skills and confidence to be safe and teach them the importance of not taking any unnecessary risks.

5. Crossing the Road

The most important tip is to teach your kids to cross the road safely. Here’s how you can help them learn:

Always look for signals and use the pedestrian crossing to cross the road. In the absence of such markings, here is what you should do:

• Look to your right and then to the left and back to the right to see if there are any approaching vehicles.
• If yes, wait for the vehicle to pass and then cross the road.
• Never cross at bends.
• Never cross between stationary vehicles.