UK nursery kids unite to stop death toll on roads
By: Green Flag

Statistics revealed in August by road safety charity Brake and Green Flag show that in 2006, 1,789 children aged under five were killed or hurt while walking or cycling on UK streets - five every day.

At the national launch of Beep Beep! Day, 50 children at Happy Times Nursery in Hammersmith learnt the vital basics of staying safe on roads through engaging activities designed for under fives. More than 30,000 children around the UK will be taking part in the event, which was run by Brake and sponsored by Green Flag.

At the launch, pre-schoolers were riding toys around a mock ‘road’ in the playground and taking part in fun games to learn important lessons such as the word ‘stop’. They wore Beep Beep! t-shirts and used toy zebra and pelican crossings, signs and mini traffic lights, provided by Fresco Interactives.

As part of the launch, Brake demanded urgent Government action to stop the tragic death and injury of innocent children around the UK. Beep Beep Day! is at the heart of Brake‘s Watch Out There‘s a Kid About! campaign, calling for the Government to take serious action to protect child pedestrians and cyclists. Brake has launched a website petition calling for 20mph safety zones around schools and homes and believes it is crucial that pre-school road safety education is rolled out by the Government.

Beep Beep! Day helps to fill gaps in the provision of Government-funded road safety resources for pre-schoolers. although some local authorities in England and Wales (none in Northern Ireland) fund pre-school road safety education through the Children‘s Traffic Club there is no national Government funding. In Scotland, this vital education is provided free for every child by the Scottish Executive.

Jools Townsend, head of education at Brake, said: “Every child has the right to walk and cycle safely. Through Brake and Green Flag‘s Beep Beep! Day, we can reach thousands of youngsters and help them develop the foundations of road safety education. We are also urging the Government to take action to stop needless deaths among innocent children. We are calling for 20mph zones around nurseries, schools and homes and provision of free pre-school road safety resources right across the country.”

Green Flag road safety spokesperson Abi Clark said: “We are pleased to be involved with Beep Beep! Day for the fourth year running. It is horrifying so many young children are killed and seriously injured by cars every day. Hopefully this initiative will not only help children stay safe but also raise awareness among drivers about the need to slow down and drive carefully around homes, schools and nurseries.”

Happy Times Nursery Manager Sue Jennings said: “We are delighted that, thanks to Brake and Green Flag, we can help our children learn road safety skills that may one day save their lives. Beep Beep! Day is a wonderful educational event but also a fun day that the children really enjoy.”

Notes to Editors
• References: [1] Statistics obtained by Brake from the Department for Transport and Police Service of Northern Ireland show that 18 children aged 0-5 were killed and 362 were seriously injured and 1,409 were slightly injured while walking or cycling on UK roads in 2006.
• In 2006, more than 17,000 children from over 400 nurseries took part in Beep Beep! Day, raising more than £25,000 sponsorship in support of Brake‘s work to prevent death and injury on the roads and care for families affected by road crashes.
• Nurseries or childminders that hold a Beep Beep! Day receive a FREE action pack containing guidelines and new resources including stickers, colour-in sheets, placards, posters and activity sheets. Beep Beep! Day can be held anytime between August 2007 and the end of October 2007. Contact Sarah Howe at Brake on 01484 559909 or e-mail beepbeep@brake.org.uk.
• Watch Out There‘s a Kid About! is the theme of this year‘s Road Safety Week, Brake‘s flagship annual event with regional and national initiatives and media launches, running from 5 – 11 November 2007.
• Brake is an independent national road safety charity which exists to stop the 9 deaths and 82 serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day. Brake produces educational road safety literature and runs community training programmes. Brake‘s Fleet Safety Forum provides up-to-date fleet safety resources to fleet managers and BrakeCare, Brake‘s support division, cares for road crash victims through a helpline and other services.
• Green Flag
o Green Flag Motoring Assistance provides breakdown cover, roadside rescue and recovery 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
o Green Flag offers car breakdown cover.
o Green Flag‘s incident management centre in Leeds manages around 1m breakdown incidents each year.
o Green Flag has an average call out time of around 40-minutes based on research undertaken between February 06 and January 2007.
o More than 85% of Green Flag Breakdown Insurance customers get assistance within the hour (Internal monitoring between March 2006 - February 2007).
o Customers have access to a national network of thousands of independent recovery agents in the UK and on mainland Europe.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleJoe.com

For more information on Breakdown Cover, visit Green Flag online today. Any nursery interested in holding a Beep Beep! Day can contact Brake on 01484 559909 or e-mail beepbeep@brake.org.uk to receive the FREE pre-school teaching pack. For media enquiries, contact Brake‘s Press Officer Dianne Ferreira on 01484 559909 or 07976 069159 (out of hours) or Abi Clark at Green Flag on 0208 313 5830 or e-mail abi.clark@rbs.co.uk. Calls may be monitored and / or recorded. www.greenflag.com

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