1. Our road safety discussion
Stay safe and arrive alive!
Our road safety discussion
This lesson is all about using roads safely. We’re going to talk about what’s dangerous and what’s safe behaviour on roads, hazards on roads that you can look out for, and how you can stay safe while walking, cycling and in cars.

2. HANDS UP! How do we use roads?
Ways of getting to school
How many kids get to school that way
Good points
Bad points
Walking
Cycling
By car
By bus
Firstly, talk to the class about how they use roads.
Ask how everyone gets to school each day.
Ask the class to put their hands up to show whether they walk, cycle, are driven, or get the bus to school. Record the numbers in the table.
Then ask the class to call out good and bad points for each method of getting to school. These will be different depending on your school and pupils, but some suggested good and bad points are given below.
Walking – good points:
Healthy
Environmentally-friendly
Sociable – allows you to chat with friends and/or family members
Walking – bad points:
Can be dangerous if there are roads with no pavements or crossings, or roads with fast traffic
Can be cold or wet in winter!
Cycling – good points:
Cycling – bad points:
Can be dangerous if there are no cycle paths, or if there are roads with fast traffic
Driven in car – good points:
Warm and dry
May be only option for pupils who live further away from school if there’s no bus
Driven in car – bad points:
Bad for the environment
Unhealthy
Adds to congestion and parking problem around school
If parents drive too fast or park on yellow lines it can put pupils who are on foot or bicycles at risk
Bus – good points:
Sociable – can talk with friends
Better for the environment than driving as there are lots of pupils all in one vehicle
Bus – bad points:
May mean waiting at the bus stop in cold and wet weather
Ask pupils how they would like to travel to school if they could choose any of these options. Are there any pupils that could walk or cycle instead of driving? (You can go on to discuss how safe the roads are around your school for pupils walking and cycling later in the lesson)
Sum up by talking about how we all use roads in different ways. Roads are shared by people on foot, bicycles, motorbikes, horses and in vehicles. Because we’re sharing roads with others, we all need to look after ourselves and other people as best we can to make our roads safer.
We all use roads to get about
Roads are shared by people on foot, on bikes, and in vehicles
We all need to look after ourselves and other people on roads

3. Danger zone Can you spot what’s safe and what’s not?
Ask the class to spot what behaviour in the pictures is dangerous and what is safe.
Use a red pen to circle and put a line through the dangerous behaviour and use a green pen to tick the safe behaviour. (NB: there may be more than one possible tick or cross per picture.)
Dangerous behaviour:
Cycling without a helmet
Crossing the road while texting
Talking on a mobile while driving
Not belting up in the car
Crossing next to a parked car
Playing a ball game in the road
Parking on yellow lines outside a school
Safe behaviour:
Wearing bright, reflective material at night
Wearing a cycle helmet
Holding hands
Crossing at a pelican crossing
Using a booster seat and belting up

4. Danger zone
BRAINSTORM: Have you seen any children do dangerous things while walking, cycling or in cars?
Have you seen any adults do dangerous things while walking, cycling or in cars?
Ask the class to call out times when they’ve seen other children (their age, younger, or older) do dangerous things while walking, cycling or in cars. (For example, kids pushing each other into the street, running across the road, cycling without a helmet, undoing their seatbelt in the car.)
They don’t have to say who it was! Just describe what they saw and why it was dangerous.
Get them to write key words and phrases in the left hand box (or even draw simple pictures).
Now ask the class to call out things they have seen adults do that are dangerous. For example, driving while talking on a mobile phone or while distracted, driving too fast, parking on the yellow lines outside the school, crossing the road in a dangerous place. Put these in the right-hand box.
Now ask the class if they said anything when they saw this dangerous behaviour? Did they tell them to stop? Discuss what they could say to get a friend or family member to stop doing something dangerous.
Both kids and adults sometimes do dangerous things on roads. Tell your class that it’s up to them to make smart choices to keep themselves safe. They can help their friends and family stay safe too by standing up for safety when they see someone doing something dangerous.

5. Hazard spot Can you spot what’s a hazard
and what’s there to keep you safe?
Sometimes people put themselves in danger by the things they do.
But sometimes we’re put in danger by the things around us.
Explain the meaning of a ‘hazard’ – i.e. something in your surroundings that could put you in danger.
Ask the class to spot what on these roads is a ‘hazard’ and what’s there to help them stay safe. Get them to use a red pen to circle and the hazards and use a green pen to tick the things that are there to help them stay safe.
Hazards:
Darkness – if you walk or cycle in the dark, or when it’s foggy or raining, it’s harder for drivers to spot you
Fast traffic – the faster vehicles go, the more dangerous for people on foot and bikes
Large vehicles like trucks and buses – these vehicles often do important jobs, like carrying food to shops or carrying people to work. But because the vehicles are big, the drivers have ‘blind spots’. This means sometimes they can’t see things near the vehicle – like kids standing behind them or right next to them. Keep well away from these vehicles, even if they’re not moving
Parked vehicles – it’s dangerous to cross between parked vehicles because it’s harder for drivers to spot you
Roads with no pavements – it’s dangerous to walk along roads like this, because there’s nothing to separate you from the traffic, and drivers might not expect there to be any pedestrians on the road
What’s there to help you stay safe:
Pelican crossings and zebra crossings – they’re there to help you get across the road safely, so always use them if you can
20mph zones – roads with slower speed limits are safer for people on foot and bicycles
Cycle lanes – help to keep traffic away from cyclists

6. Hazard spot What are the hazards around your school and home?
We’ve talked about hazards on roads that can put you in danger. Now let’s think about where you might have spotted these hazards near your school and home.
Put a map of the area around your school onto this slide. You can then get pupils to call out what roads have hazards on them and mark these on the map. Alternatively, or in addition to this, you can prepare photographs of some of the streets around the school where there are either hazards or features designed to help people stay safe, such as crossings and 20mph zones. For a map of your area, go to or and type in your school’s postcode – zoom in for a more detailed map (the multimap website can also show you aerial photographs). Alternatively, go to where you can order free ordnance survey maps for schools and view ordnance survey maps online.
Using the maps, you can talk about which routes pupils take to school if they walk or cycle. Are they taking the safest routes?

7. QUIZ TIME: why is fast traffic dangerous?
FACT: It takes time for vehicles to come to a complete stop.
Q: As vehicles get faster, do their stopping distances:
Increase? b) Decrease? c) Stay the same?
Fast traffic is a big hazard for people on foot and bikes. But why is fast traffic dangerous?
When a driver spots something up ahead that means they need to stop, such as a child running into the road suddenly, their car won’t stop instantly. It takes time for the driver to spot the child, put their foot on the brake, and it takes time for the vehicle to come to a complete stop. That’s why you should never run into the road suddenly.
Stopping distances are the distances travelled by vehicles in between a driver spotting a hazard and coming to a complete stop.
Ask the class to put their hands up to say whether they think braking distances increase, decrease or stay the same as vehicles go faster.
[reveal answer] The answer is that the faster traffic goes, the longer it takes to come to a complete stop.
[reveal stopping distances chart]
If a driver was driving at 20mph and they spotted something or someone up ahead, it would take them just 12 metres to stop. At 40mph, it would take three times this distance – 36 metres. That means that if you crossed a road without looking properly (or where you couldn’t see if anything was coming), and there was a car coming towards you at 40mph, they have to be more than 36 metres away to be able to stop in time.
[You could measure the classroom to be able to demonstrate the distances, or even take the children out into the playground to measure the different distances with a trundle wheel, with different children representing stopping distances at different speeds]
This means that the slower traffic goes, the better chance drivers have of spotting you and being able to stop in time if they need to. Very fast traffic is extremely dangerous – which is why you should try to only walk and cycle around roads with low speed limits and avoid roads with faster traffic. But be aware that on any roads a driver might decide to be dangerous and drive too fast.

8. What happens if you don’t stay safe on roads?
THE FACTS:
You could get seriously injured – or even killed
Kids age are more likely to get hurt or killed while walking or cycling than younger kids
BRAINSTORM:
Why do you think older kids are more likely to get hurt or killed than younger kids?
We’ve talked about types of behaviour that are dangerous and safe, and we’ve talked about hazards and safe features on roads. But what is the point of staying safe and taking care on roads?
The point is that if you don’t put safety first, you have more risk of being seriously injured or even killed. And when we talk about serious injuries, we don’t just mean breaking your arm and wearing a cast. Some people injured on roads have really bad injuries that can change your life forever. Some kids that get injured on roads are never able to walk or run about again. Think how that would feel. What injuries might these be? (brain injury, spinal injury)
year-olds are hurt or killed on roads every week in Britain.
Don’t think that as you get older you can stop being careful on roads. When you get to age 11 and move up to secondary school, you’re actually more likely to be hurt or killed on roads.
Discuss why the class thinks that year-olds are more likely to get hurt or killed on roads.
Possible answers include that year-olds:
Are more likely to walk and cycle ‘independently’ (without an adult) than younger children
Think they know how to use roads, so don’t think about safety rules any more, like the Green Cross Code
Sometimes push each other into doing dangerous things to try to look cool – like mucking about, playing ‘chicken’, pushing each other into roads, daring each other to take risks – this is called peer pressure

9. BELT UP AND
SHUT UP!
Belt up before the car sets off – tell the driver to hold on
Belt up for every journey – short and long
Check everyone else belts up too – front and back, kids and adults!
Never undo your seat belt on the journey
The law says you have to use special seat – otherwise your seat belt can’t do it’s job
So now we know why it’s so important to stay safe on roads, we’re going to talk about FOUR SIMPLE STEPS TO STAYING SAFE.
Firstly, BELT UP AND SHUT UP in cars. This is what you need to do to stay safe:
Belt up before the car sets off – tell the driver to wait if someone is not belted up.
Belt up for every journey – you could crash on any journey, however short
Check everyone else belts up too – front and back, kids and adults – seat belts help keep everyone safe, wherever you’re sitting and however old you are
Never undo your seat belt on the journey – even for a moment.
The law says you have to use a booster seat if you’re under 135cm tall – otherwise your seat belt can’t do it’s job properly.
Never make loud noises or do anything that could distract the driver – they need to stay focused on the road. If you distract them, they could crash. Sit still and keep as quiet as you can. If you’ve got a younger brother or sister and they’re bugging you, just try to ignore them – don’t get into an argument which could distract the driver.

10. FACT: if you’re not belted up and you’re in a crash, you would be thrown forward with the force of a small elephant
If you’re not belted up and you’re in a crash, you would be thrown forward with the force of a small elephant.
It looks funny in this picture, but in real life it could be very serious indeed. If you’re not belted up in a crash, the force of the crash could through you forward through the windscreen and onto the road. This can happen whether you’re sitting in the front or the back. If this happens, you will probably be killed or very seriously injured.
If you’re sitting in the back, you could be thrown forwards and hit the person in front of you. If that happens, you could kill the person in front of you if you hit the back of their head.

11. GET THE GEAR! Wear a helmet whenever you cycle
If you have a bike, keep it in good
shape
Be bright, be seen – wear high-vis
gear morning and night!
The next step to staying safe is GET THE GEAR!
Firstly, if you cycle, make sure you always wear a helmet. You wouldn’t catch a professional cyclist not wearing one. It could save your life - half of all injuries suffered by cyclists are to the head and face. Make sure you’ve got a helmet that fits you properly and is not damaged.
Secondly, if you have a bike, make sure you keep it in good shape. Get your parents to check the brakes are working if you aren’t sure.
The other gear that’s important to have if you’re walking or cycling is high-visibility (or ‘high-vis’) gear, which helps drivers to see you from further away.
Fluorescent high-vis gear shows up best in the daytime, at dusk, or in bad weather. Something that’s bright yellow or orange will also show up well.
Reflective high-vis gear shows up best at night, by reflecting the light from vehicles’ headlights.

12. FACT: at night a driver can usually see you from about 30 metres away.
If you wear high-vis gear they can
see you from 160 metres away
(more than five times further!)
BRAINSTORM:
Look at the pictures of Amy and Tom.
What high-vis gear could they wear?
FACT: when it’s dark, a driver can usually see you from about 30 metres away in their headlights. If you wear high-vis gear they can see you from 160 metres away.
If you have got a high-vis product and torch ready, demonstrate how it reflects light by turning off the lights, and getting one child to stand across the room, shining the torch on another child holding the high vis item (taking care not to shine it in their eyes). Compare the high-vis item to other materials of different colours. Which shows up best?
There are lots of different types of high-vis gear – including stickers and tags you can put on your bag or coat, ‘slap wraps’ to wear on your arm, and high-vis vests or jackets. Some shoes and coats have reflective parts built in.
Suggest some high-vis gear that Amy and Ben can wear.
[You could draw high-vis gear onto them using a yellow pen]

13. PLAY IT SAFE! Play in the park or a garden - never in the street
Don’t muck about near roads – keep your cool and stand up for safety!
Keep well away from traffic on rollerblades or skateboards
The third step to staying safe is PLAY SAFE!
- Don’t play in roads – even if it’s a quiet street near your house. It’s much safer (and more fun) to play in a garden or park.
- Don’t muck about near roads. Taking risks like playing ‘chicken’ or pushing other kids into roads is really dangerous. If your mates do stupid things like this, stand up for safety by telling them to stop. If they won’t stop, don’t join in – keep your cool and just walk away.
- If you’ve got rollerblades or a skateboard, don’t use them near busy roads. Only use them on pavements of quiet roads – never in the street or near fast traffic. The best place to use rollerblades and skateboards is in the park, where you don’t need to worry about traffic at all.

14. CROSS SMART! Choose safe routes Use crossings if you can
If there’s no crossing, find somewhere safe – away from parked cars and bends in the road
Stay focussed – never cross while using a mobile or stereo
Don’t trust traffic
Use the Green Cross Code
THINK FIRST
STOP
USE YOUR EYES AND EARS
WAIT UNTIL IT'S SAFE TO CROSS
LOOK AND LISTEN
ARRIVE ALIVE
The fourth step to staying safe is to cross smart. That means choosing safe routes with safe places to cross when you’re walking and using the Green Cross Code to get across safely.
- Use a crossing where there is one. If it is a crossing with traffic lights, wait for the green man. Or cross where there is a lollipop person to help you.
- If there’s no crossing, find somewhere safe – away from parked cars, bends in the road, and other objects that might stop drivers from seeing you, like a bridge over the road.
- Don’t trust traffic – sometimes drivers go too fast or do stupid things like use a mobile phone while driving, which distracts them. It’s up to you to look after yourself.
- Always use the Green Cross Code – it’s so simple and it could save your life. You’re never to old to use the green cross code!
Ask the class to call out what they thing the steps of the Green Cross Code are, then reveal them one at a time:
THINK FIRST – find a safe place to cross.
STOP – near the kerb.
USE YOUR EYES AND EARS - Look all around for traffic, and listen. Look in every direction. Listen carefully because you can sometimes hear traffic before you can see it.
WAIT UNTIL IT'S SAFE TO CROSS - If traffic is coming, let it pass. Do not cross unless there is a safe gap and you are sure there is plenty of time. If you are not sure, don't cross.
LOOK AND LISTEN - When it's safe, walk straight across the road. Always walk across, never run.
ARRIVE ALIVE - Carry on looking and listening as you walk.

15. FACT: you need to watch out – even on roads you know
It’s easiest to forget about safe walking and the Green Cross Code when you’re walking on roads you know well. But you never know when a danger will appear on roads, so you need to always watch out.

16. What’s road safety all about?
Understanding that traffic can kill and permanently injure you
Not trusting drivers
Taking care to stay safer by making smart choices
Helping others be safer, such as mum and dad, or a little sister or brother
This lesson was all about road safety. Now the lesson’s nearly over, what do you think road safety’s all about? Is it something they thing people should take seriously and give more thought to? Is there anything they’ll do differently after the lesson? [You could get the class to make ‘stay safe pledges’ by creating posters of things they’ll do to stay safe from now on, and creating a display]
Get the class to call out answers, then reveal the main things to remember about road safety.