NURSERIES ENCOURAGED TO TAKE PART IN LIFE-SAVING ROAD SAFETY EVENT
11 July 2005 - Green Flag Motoring Assistance

Road safety charity, Brake is urging nursery schools, childminders and pre-schools groups in to get involved in a national campaign called Beep Beep! Day aimed at teaching lifesaving road safety lessons to children aged six years and under.

More than 140 nurseries and pre-schools across the country are already confirmed to run their own Beep Beep! Day events from August to October..

The annual campaign is organised by Brake, the road safety charity, in partnership with Green Flag Motoring Assistance, to help reduce the shocking numbers of children killed and injured on our roads each year.

In 2003, 20 child pedestrians aged six and under were killed on Britain''s roads and 2,679 were injured (latest available figures). This means that seven child pedestrians aged six or under are injured on our roads every day. Currently, the Government does not provide any resources or information on educating pre-schoolers on road safety, and road safety is not a compulsory part of the national curriculum in schools.

Organisations that hold a Beep Beep! Day event receive an action pack containing guidelines and resources including stickers, posters, activity sheets, colouring posters and a teaching pack to help them organise a range of road safety activities. The also get two free fluorescent high-visibility vests to use on the day and to keep for future activities. Early years educators can hold their Beep Beep! Day anytime between August 1 and the end of October 2005.

Beep Beep! Day was launched in 2004 and last year more than 5,000 children from 163 nurseries took part. The tots were either taken on a short walk on nearby safe pavements or used their ''ride on'' toys in the playground to learn basic road safety lessons. Some nurseries raised sponsorship money for Brake''s work to prevent death and injury on the roads and care for road crash victims, raising more than £10,000 in 2004. Nurseries can also involve parents, by inviting them to attend as volunteer supervisors.

Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake said:

''Every youngster must be taught basic road safety lessons, such as holding hands with an adult when crossing the road. Brake hopes that Beep Beep! Day can tackle the heartbreaking number of child pedestrian deaths and injuries in the UK and I urge all nurseries, pre-schools and childminders to get involved.''

Melanie Denny, from Green Flag said:

''As a leading motoring assistance organisation, we put the safety of our motoring customers at the heart of our operation and support campaigns such as Beep Beep! Day to raise the overall awareness of safety on our roads.. We feel it is never too early to start teaching children basic road safety and help them develop the skills they need to stay safe on the roads for the rest of their lives.''

www.greenflag.com

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