Road safety education

The other day, my sons and I were lunching and after a malfunction in one of our cars, we huddled on the next steps towards repair and maintenance. Fortunately for us, my dad has always been an avid car enthusiast and in such circumstances, ever ready in giving us advise. Naturally as a busy mom, getting the necessary information on upkeep for all our vehicles is a high priority as safety is a top concern.

We’ve often heard personal stories from people on road accidents or injuries which in turn give insight to young people in order to become aware of the importance of safe and responsible driving and the measures that must be undertaken to avoid accidents. I had read at some point that in the Philippines, based on a 2019 report, there are around 35 road crash fatalities happening each day with an estimated 12,690 fatalities in a year. While I am not sure about the recent numbers, the point is, road safety education is critical. Road safety teaches us how to conduct ourselves while driving or crossing roads and the education behind it is so important since, if you think traffic is just so bad today, it’ll only get worse if our youth do not get educated accordingly.

The most obvious reason why road safety is so important is simply because many lives are at stake when you’re on the road and teaching children in their early years the importance of traffic rules means ensuring the safety of the next generation and in turn also makes them law abiding citizens. Teaching guidelines on road safety must be age appropriate and when taught in the early years, it certainly needs good adult supervision.

Learning can be fun, as many say, and when teaching young children about road safety, teachers need to transform learning into an effective interactive experience, using certain techniques as they go along. In everything we learn, application is key, therefore when teaching young children on road safety, parents and teachers can demonstrate road rules to children while going on walks and crossing roads.

One of the things I particularly notice about young people on the road is their use of headphones. It is simply a big no-no as this can affect a driver’s hearing and increase the risk of an accident. While my children and I found ourselves discussing car maintenance over Sunday lunch, we found it best to listen intently to my father’s advise as a healthy car owner also establishes that the best way to ensure the safety of the driver is to continue educating ourselves on the risks while developing more knowledge and skills that enable everyone on the road to keep safe.

Part of what we hope to achieve in school is personal development and road safety education can be integrated in this part of the curriculum due to the human factors involved. Before any of us “hit the road,” we all start off as vulnerable road users, which is why it is important to equip ourselves with the right tools for our safety and well being.

We are always on the lookout for helping society function in the most optimal way and a good road network is built on cooperation between society and its leaders. Simply put, road safety education has an impact on the quality of our lives and we must be knowledgeable about traffic laws and rules, driving carefully along accident prone areas and regularly maintaining our cars if we own one.

Safety plans often begin at home and rightfully so, as the family is the most basic and most fundamental part of our society but in turn, it needs to also be reinforced in schools and perhaps even in the workplace, and many of us could still use a re-education in a system where education continues to grow, even in the area of mobility.