The main goal is the prevention of child road traffic injuries before the start of the academic year.
On the eve of the new academic year, it is especially important to remind adults how crucial their authority is for children.
It is worth starting with the main reasons for road traffic accidents involving children:
ignorance of elementary traffic rules;
lack of skills and habits to observe traffic rules for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicle passengers;
lack of discipline or inattention of children on the street;
insufficient adult supervision of children's behaviour.
Children cannot foresee danger or correctly estimate the distance to an approaching vehicle. Very often, children overestimate their abilities, considering themselves faster and more agile than they actually are.
Teaching a child the basics of road safety is not an easy task. The most important aspects are parental explanations and their personal example. If parents consider it acceptable to cross the road in an undesignated place, it is useless to expect correct behaviour from children.
The most common mistakes that lead to road traffic accidents are:
crossing the road in front of approaching traffic;
sudden entry onto the carriageway from behind an obstacle;
crossing the road in an unauthorised place.
It is necessary to teach a child to look. Before taking the first step from the pavement, it is important to survey the road in all directions. This should become automatic. Much of ensuring children's safety on the road depends on drivers. A child is never legally at fault in a road traffic accident, and therefore the driver's role in ensuring safety increases. It is necessary to be extremely attentive, patient, and considerate when driving near schools, kindergartens, and other children's educational institutions. This also applies when driving through pedestrian crossings, past parked cars, and other obstacles that limit visibility.