Road safety education involving learners and schools | Western Cape Government

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Road safety education involving learners and schools

3 February 2016

The Department of Transport and Public Works ran a road safety awareness event at the Noluthando School for the Deaf in Khayelitsha on 2 February 2016.

Sign language interpreters were on hand to enable learners to understand what was being communicated. The children learned basic road safety awareness such as how to cross a road safely and what traffic signals mean. This is one of many road safety awareness events that will be run by provincial and local traffic authorities at schools across the Western Cape this year.

Principal Thandeka Mavuka said learners are exposed to road safety hazards every day as they walk to school. “We take what we’ve learned to heart, and the learners are looking forward to use the road safety colouring books that they received from the Department,” she said.

If your children walk to school, make sure they:

  • always walk on the pavement or footpath or, where there is no pavement, walk facing oncoming traffic;
  • look left, right and left again before crossing the street;
  • remove headphones when crossing the street; and
  • cross the street at traffic lights and pedestrian crossings if possible.

Comprehensive road safety education for children requires the involvement of parents, teachers and other adults in a community. Together, we can set a good example for children by consistently adhering to the rules of the road.

As a driver, you can help keep children safe by always buckling them up, by never speeding, and by making a deliberate point of slowing down whenever you notice children walking or playing in the road. Communities and individuals can also apply to their local municipality to have traffic calming measures introduced near schools such as lower speed limits, speed bumps and additional road signs.

The Department is confident that its efforts with local traffic authorities and other road safety agencies will go a long way to help reduce the risk of pedestrian injuries and deaths among children.

Any parent or caregiver with any learner road safety concerns should speak to the school principal who can ask Western Cape Education Department for assistance. Our officials will gladly visit schools to run road safety programmes.

For more information, contact the Road Safety Management component on 021 483 6971.

Media Enquiries: 
Byron la Hoe
Communication Officer
Department of Transport and Public Works
Tel: 021 483 9813
Cell: 079 281 8570
Email: byron.lahoe@westerncape.gov.za
 

You can follow the Department of Transport and Public Works on Twitter: @WCGovTPW