If you’re the parent or carer of a primary school student, taking care of that child’s road safety education is vital to help them navigate the streets to and from school, school holiday activities, or local trips through the neighbourhood to visit friends, their favourite park, or to pick something up from a local shop.
To help keep them safe and aware of the potential dangers that can come from walking, riding, scooting or skating the streets – especially in an age where an unfortunate number of people behind the wheel are distracted by mobile phone – teaching young children to stop, think, look and listen is an essential way to help travel towards the road safety goal of a ‘zero’ road toll.
The New South Wales Department of Education has shared some helpful top tips to reinforce the learning that helps ensure students stay safe on the roads.
Top road safety tips
Be alert and aware
Take note of the dangers you come across on your walk and bring them to your child’s attention. Point out dangers, such as vehicles coming out of driveways. Talk to your child about being alert in a road environment.
Hold hands
When on the footpath, at a crossing or in a car park always hold your child’s hand. It is advised to do this up to the age of at least eight years old and closely supervise until at least the age of 10.
Choose a safe crossing
Lead by example and choose a safe place to cross the road. Explain why it is the safest place to cross.
Set a good example
Your child watches everything you do, so if you cross at the crossing they will too. It’s also important to share these messages with other carers who may walk with your child to school.
Stop, look, listen, think – every time you cross the road
Discuss this important road safety message. STOP! one step back from the kerb. LOOK! continuously both ways. LISTEN! for the sounds of approaching traffic. THINK! whether it is safe to cross.
Practise makes perfect
The more supervised practice your child can get on the roads around your home and their school, the better chance they have of staying safe.
If they are already walking to school independently, it’s still important to remind them of critical road safety skills, and one positive way to do this is by going on a walk with them to see, first-hand, what their natural approach is to road safety. If you notice they are not sticking to the rules you’ve previously shared with them – including crossing at the lights, looking both ways, having their eyes off their mobile phone and on what is happening around them, it’s time to take them through those rules again – and fast.
By reminding children of any age to stop, look, listen and think when they are around vehicles, we can help each other on the journey towards zero.
Keeping young drivers alive with a mindset shift
They might only make up a small proportion of the motorists on Australian roads, but young drivers are over-represented in the nation’s road crash and fatality data – and sadly, those statistics are getting worse, not better.
In 2023, the highest proportion of recorded road deaths were people aged 40–64, but the 17–25 age group was not far behind – adding up to a worrying 22 per cent of total driver deaths in Australia that year.
According to Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) national data, road deaths in this age group are on the rise, and for parents of university-age students, that can mean sleepless nights and stressful days waiting for young drivers to arrive home safely.
Compared to data from 2022, when the 17-25 age group made up 20 per cent of driver deaths, the 2023 road toll for young Australian drivers represents an increase. In 2019, young drivers represented 18 per cent of total driver deaths.
The figures become even more troubling when you realise that, historically, drivers under the age of 25 only make up around 14 per cent of all licence holders but account for roughly a quarter of all road deaths.
Road safety experts cite a lack of experience, peer pressure, and a propensity to drive over the speed limit creating a fatal combination.
Go on the defence to help young drivers stay alive
To help turn that tide that leaves too many families shattered by the news of a young life lost, or forever impacted by the effects of road trauma, defensive driver training courses for young drivers can help.
By placing less experienced young drivers in emergency scenarios that demand last-minute braking, high-speed collision avoidance and emergency lane changes, the drivers experience a greater awareness of what bad driving habits, including speed and distraction, can do.
When we guide young people through their schooling, we understand the importance of ongoing education for life, but for many parents, simply getting a young driver through the milestone of receiving their license is where the education officially stops – and the real risks begin.
Set a positive example
Even an older driver can be impacted by bad driving habits, and with too many Australian drivers still distracted by mobile phone use, and not adhering to road sign warnings, learning the skills of defensive driving and making a mindset shift to stay safer behind the wheel helps keep the wider community safer too.
Taking a defensive driving together sends a powerful message that, when it comes to staying safe on the road, improving driving skills never goes out of style – and by learning together and acknowledging your own flaws, you’re teaching your young driver an important reminder that there is always room for improvement behind the wheel.
