Keeping safe on and around roads
Getting road safe ready from the classroom
Whether children are pedestrians, passengers or use roads recreationally with bikes, scooters, skateboards and the like, they need to constantly make decisions about their own safety. The NRMA's 'Be Road Safe Ready' program provides your school with free educational programs and resources to help teach safe road habits.
Getting road safe ready from home
Parents play an important role in teaching and keeping their children safe on and around roads. We can provide useful tips for parents on what they can do to keep children safe while walking or riding on or near roads.
Bike safety
It’s not uncommon for children to sustain injuries associated with falls or collisions on skateboards, scooters, skates and bikes – but these can impact vulnerable parts of the body such as the head, wrists, elbows and knees. And as they share the road with cars and larger vehicles, the risks can be quite serious.
Road authorities advise that children should be accompanied by an adult until the ages of 9 or 10, depending on their individual development. It’s important for them to learn to use wheeled vehicles under supervision and in safe environments, particularly as they’re first learning to steer and stop.
Working with Kidsafe, we've produced an essential kids on wheels safety brochure.
Key safety messages covered in the brochure:
Tricycles
- Ensure the product is the right size for the child
- Ensure that it is stable
- Provide a safe area to use it – away from slopes, stairs and changes in level
- A child should be able to touch the ground with both feet while seated
Bicycles
Most bicycle injuries are the result of the child losing control of the bike (about 85 per cent), so getting the right size is vitally important.
Maintaining critical safety features
- Helmets, wrist, knee and elbow guards
- Brakes, lights, reflectors and bells
- Visibility devices (reflective tape, flags, etc)
- Scooters, skateboards and rollerblades
- The most common injuries result from falls – there have been injuries and deaths associated with running into vehicles and pedestrians
Visibility
- Riding in poor light, at night or near traffic
- Increasing visibility to pedestrians and vehicle
