Why road safety education should be mandatory in schools

Community speedwatch in Nottinghamshire

The best deterrent against speeding? A gang of high-vis children! 👷‍♀️

Earlier this week, I arranged for the children from our school to join the community speedwatch volunteers in our Nottinghamshire village. Thankfully, all drivers complied with the speed limit.

We desperately need road safety education to become a mandatory part of the curriculum throughout a child’s school journey.

Given that road crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young people aged 5-29 worldwide, the current level of road safety education for our youngsters falls far short of what’s needed.

Activities like this, albeit small, which open their eyes to the risks they face on the roads, are so important in shaping safer future road users.

The smiley boy in the green coat is my 8-year-old son, Oliver, who was so keen to get involved. My 11-year-old daughter, on the other hand, thought joining her mum in this activity would be beyond embarrassing...!

Starting young