Road Safety for Kids Necessary Over the Long Weekend to Prevent More Fatalities
NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia June 2014 – As Australians enjoy the Queen’s Birthday long weekend with holidays, trips to visit family and friends and fun day outs, the number of cars and pedestrians on the road increases and so do the number of incidents involving children and cars.
“That’s a nightmare for every parent, isn’t it? Hearing that their child has been hit by a car, especially if they feel it was as a result of not watching them closely enough, would rip out any parent’s heart and devastate the entire family,” says Jo Byron, former policewoman, mother of three and Creator of Safe-T-Hand, a road safety for kids initiative. “But the sad reality is that the more cars and pedestrians there are active over the long weekend, the more incidents that will occur with cars.” www.safethand.com.au/
Long weekends and school holidays are an important time to teach kids car safety, because it’s much more dangerous for children on the road or near a road due to an increase in:
- Distractions, like mobile phone calls and SMSs, radios and extra passengers in the car
- Tiredness, from driving overnight to a holiday destination and driving long hours
- Speeding/time restraints, when drivers want to arrive at their holiday destination faster
- Road rage, due to more traffic on the road and an increase in the frequency of traffic condition changes
- Alcohol intake, including when people do not realise they are over the legal limit the day the following day
- Car/vehicle condition, such as bald tyres or engine overheating, making local and visiting cars in the community unsafe and unroadworthy
- Escaped animals on the road, if family pets are not secured correctly while the family is away
Jo is very passionate about road safety for kids and works towards reducing the number of deaths that occur in car parks or at low speeds. She says more often than not, these accidents occur simply because children don’t understand that cars can’t see them and can be avoided by educating children. Jo says, “With so many families travelling over the long weekend, I’m campaigning to make sure that they know the one simple tip that could save their children’s lives – that the car is more visible than the little ones are and they are much safer staying right next to the family car.” www.safethand.com.au/
Jo’s car safety for kids’ initiative Safe-T-Hand is a colourful, reusable sticker or magnet that is stuck on the side of the car so children can place their own hand over it until their parents can walk them safely through the car park or across the road. It was developed to provide children with something to focus on once out of the car, while parents are either putting things in the boot or opening the car doors. www.safethand.com.au/
For FREE tips on road safety for kids over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend and school holidays, visit www.safethand.com.au/ today.
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Queen’s Birthday weekend- Long weekend
- Road safety in traffic
- Keeping your kids safe
- Road safety tool for kids
- Contact Information
- Jo Byron
- Manager
- Safe-T-Hand
- (61) 0400 595 206
- jo@safethand.com.au
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