Keeping our children safe through junior traffic training centres

On Thursday 28 March, officials of the Department of Transport and Public Works Road Safety Management (RSM) directorate and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) completed road markings at a new junior traffic training centre (JTTC) in the WCED Metro North region. JTTCs are small-scale simulated road environments where primary school learners can learn good road safety habits. In the 2018/19 financial year, RSM established JTTCs in Mossel Bay, George, Worcester, Ceres, Prince Albert, and the Cape Town Metropolitan area.

Many children from disadvantaged areas must walk when they go to school, to the library, and to visit friends and family. Primary school learners are an important RSM target audience because they are particularly vulnerable, and because learning good safety habits at an early age provides a lifetime of benefit. This supports RSM’s overall aim of raising awareness of road hazards and the importance of good road safety habits among a variety of target audiences.

RSM officials Nokuzola Letselebe and Jean Carlo Ongansie, and David Leonard of the WCED painted the road markings with the assistance of interns Khalib Hendricks, Timothy James and Brendon Steenberg.

Ms Letselebe said any school or community that wants a JTTC can lodge a request with RSM. The requesting school or community must provide a cement or tarmac slab. If the request can be accommodated within the current budget, RSM will approve the request, and provide the paint for the road markings as well as miniature road signs for JTTC learning environment. She added that the Metro North JTCC will help children to learn good road safety habits, and show other schools and communities what difference such a centre can make.