Child Safety

Welcome to our August edition.  It is now better weather for walking and enjoying the nicer weather, so take the opportunity to walk, ride or scoot to school.  

This month, it would be great to start or continue having conversations with your children about road safety.  

Please find below some helpful tips:

Teaching road safety to our children is a life skill.  Parents/Carers are encouraged to keep in mind the following tips to ensure that children stay safe when in the car and on the road as a pedestrian.  Please practice road safety daily.

1.    Buckle up! – Ensure that children in your care always wear a seatbelt or secured in a car seat.  Children need always needs to be buckled up in the correct seatbelt, no matter how long the trip is.  Discuss with your children the importance of wearing a seatbelt.

2.    Use the child lock feature to prevent children from opening car doors by themselves.  Explain to your children why you might action this. 

3.    Teach your child about the safety door of your car – the door closest to the footpath in the backseat is the safest door that children should be entering and exiting out of.  The traffic side is not safe to get out of, especially around a school precinct.

4.    Go for walks with your children in your neighbourhood and teach them about road rules and road safety while walking – practice safe places to cross the road. Practice Stop, Look, Listen and Think at every crossing.  Try walking to school, even if it is once a week and part the way is ok!  This allows your child to familiarize themselves with school streets and safe places to cross the road. 

5.  Discuss carparks and walking through shopping centres.  Explain the importance of holding hands in these busy areas. 

6.    Always discuss the importance of wearing a bike helmet while riding or scooting.  Wearing a helmet protects your head from injury by 74%

7.    Demonstrate patience when driving – set an example for your children to be calm and not rush on the road. Role modelling is very important to a child.

8.    Try and make eye contact with pedestrians crossing in front of your car at an intersection or crosswalk.  

9.    Allow enough time to get to your destination, so you are not rushing.  We have over 42,000 families making school trips per day on our Casey road network.

10.    Never use mobile phones when driving and never be distracted while driving.  Also discuss distraction as a pedestrian - such as bouncing a ball, looking down when you should be looking up and being distracted by friends they may be walking with. 

11. Do not leave your Children alone in the car.