New partnership to improve road safety education

Environment Minister Edwin Poots today welcomed the new co-ordinated approach to the provision of road safety education within Northern Ireland schools.

Minister Poots, who has the statutory responsibility for providing road safety information and advice to schools in Northern Ireland, has invited the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) to share their expertise and experience with our school children.

Mr Poots said: “My Department is responsible for road safety education in schools and I fully welcome the support provided from our partner organisations, the PSNI and NIFRS, in ensuring that our children of school age are as well equipped as we can make them for staying safe when using the roads.

“This new co-ordinated approach to the delivery of road safety education within schools will make best use of our resources and expertise in our collective fight towards a continued reduction in child road traffic casualties.”

The Minister explained that it is vital that our children are aware of the dangers when using the roads and know what actions to take to avoid being injured when using the road.

He said: “Teaching safety skills to children can provide lifelong benefits to society and should be seen as an ongoing long term intervention. Evidence shows that children remember effective and sustainable development of positive attitudes to road safety by linking it on a regular basis to issues being covered within the core curriculum.

“It is for this reason that DOE Road Safety, PSNI and NIFRS engages with the teaching profession.”

There has been a steady decline in child fatalities since the mid-seventies. In 1977, a total of 55 children died on Northern Ireland roads; last year seven children died on our roads. So far this year, three families have tragically lost a child due to a road traffic collision.

He concluded: “Road safety education has played a vital role in reducing the numbers of children who die on our roads, but this year so far, three children have needlessly lost their lives - and that is three too many.”

Peter Craig, Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service added: “Firefighters attend road traffic collisions every day and we witness first hand the carnage they cause on our roads. Our job is to free and remove people trapped in their vehicles. By working directly in schools with young people and key partner organisations in the wider community, we want everyone to realise we all have a responsibility on the roads to help prevent road traffic collisions occurring in the first place.”

Welcoming the new memorandum of understanding, Superintendent Muir Clark, Head of Road Policing said: “Everyone has a role to play in preventing deaths and injuries on our roads. Police efforts will continue to focus on education, engineering and enforcement which can only be effectively delivered by working with our agency partners.”

Notes to Editors:

1. DOE Road Safety Education Service follows the Department for Transport best practice guidelines which is based on an extensive two-year research programme, which identified the regular teaching of road safety by teachers as the most effective approach.

2. Northern Ireland was the first to encourage teachers to teach road safety through the provision of appropriate road safety teaching materials and teacher training with the aim of ensuring that all pupils experience road safety education throughout the school year.

3. The previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was in place since September 2002. This was an agreement between the Department and the PSNI. This new MoU includes the NIFRS for the first time.

4. All media inquiries should be directed to the Department of the Environment Press Office on 028 9054 0003. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.