Traffic safety and mobility is a shared responsibility, and all relevant stakeholders at all levels should therefore be involved in education related to this topic.
At a local level, traffic safety and mobility education is not only the responsibility of schools and kindergartens. Pupils and students, parents and other relevant actors, such as municipalities, the police, local road safety authorities and sport clubs, should also be involved.
Parents have a vital responsibility, as they are important role models for children. The choice of the form of transport to the day-care centre and to school, work and leisure time activities affects the child’s future mobility behaviour.
Student participation and involvement is furthermore important in order for traffic safety and mobility education to be effective. If students are able to also participate in the planning of traffic safety education activities in schools, it will be easier for them to connect what they have learned at school to real traffic situations.
BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES
Czech Republic – Traffic Education in Local Road Safety Strategies
In the Czech Republic, traffic education is an integral and important part of local road safety strategies. The measures included in the local strategies are closely linked to the measures contained in the national road safety strategy as well as those from the relevant regional strategies. However, it is important to note that they are targeted at the specific local safety problems that directly affect the inhabitants of the municipality.
The strategies build on and further develop existing local traffic education activities, which make them attractive to be used for activities by local stakeholders such as schools and children’s clubs. A large part of the traffic education activities is carried out on children’s traffic playgrounds, of which there are around 180 in the Czech Republic, including mobile ones.
Denmark – School Traffic Policy
Danish schools implementing a school traffic policy (see Principle #6) include relevant actors in their work. These are, for instance, the school board, the school´s student council, parents, the school management, teachers, and representatives from the municipality and local police.
Norway – Traffic Safe Municipality: Systematic Work for a Safer Local Environment
Road safety policy depends on a broad and collective effort from several sectors to prevent and reduce road collisions. Municipalities are important actors in the work on road safety, as employers, owners of roads, day-care centerres and schools, and as actors responsible for the quality of transportation services. In order to succeed, all municipal agencies must be involved in the work and each agency manager must take their share of the responsibility. The policy must be ingrained within the political and administrative management team.
The Norwegian Council for Road Safety (NCRS; Trygg Trafikk) has prepared a list of criteria for a Traffic Safe Municipality. Kindergartens and schools make up an important part of the concept. Through this system, kindergartens and schools need to have a traffic safety policy, including traffic safety and mobility education.
More Information
Traffic Safe Municipality started in 2016, and 110 out of 370 municipalities are certified as of October 2019. For more information, visit: www.trafikksikkerkommune.no
Finland – Student Participation in the Curriculum
The new core curriculum in Finland (see Principle #2) highlights student involvement and participation at school and states that “pupils take part in planning, implementing, assessing and evaluating their own learning, joint school work and the learning environment.”
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