From 25 May to 5 June, the special comprehensive event "Attention - Children!" is being held.

From May 25 to June 5, a special comprehensive event "Attention - Children!" is being held. Its goal is to prevent child injuries and fatalities as a result of road traffic accidents.

Of course, the causes of traffic accidents vary in each specific case. But a case where a child dies is a huge pain, and it is incredibly difficult to discuss the causes in such a situation. To our great regret, grief does not stop at one case; it spreads from family to family. We want to believe that my words will touch parents. After all, they, more than anyone else, are responsible for their sons and daughters.

The first cause of child injuries on the road does not depend on the children themselves at all. These are cases where children are passengers in cars involved in an accident. Here, the entire burden of guilt falls on the driver, who must always remember that children are in the car with him, and in any escalation of the situation on the road, he risks the lives of his young passengers first and foremost. Unfortunately, not all drivers understand this.

The second cause is mischief, inattention, and non-compliance with road rules by the children themselves. The vast majority of such incidents involve child pedestrians. About 7% are initiated by teenage drivers. These are cases where children, either on their own or with the tacit consent of adults, get behind the wheel of a motorcycle, scooter, and sometimes even a car, without having the right or driving skills, and consequently get into accidents.

All the above and similar cases occur when teenagers are on the street alone or in the company of peers, equally unprepared for the specifics of road traffic, without basic rules of conduct on the road instilled by parents and school. It is this share of incidents involving children that can be reduced through joint efforts of the school, family, traffic police, and children's and public organizations to explain and promote safe behavior rules among young road users. And the family should play the main role here. It is parents, more than anyone else, who, being nearby from an early age, can develop a child's habit of acting correctly when crossing the road, when traveling by car, public transport, etc. Only the positive example of a mother and father can instill in a developing person respect for road rules. Only then, by school age, will you be able to keep your child safe and be calm about him.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for parents to completely neglect their children, finding solace in alcohol. We often see situations where parents not only fail to instill any skills in their children but also grossly violate traffic rules themselves while with their children in public. Now, consider: how can one be at ease about such a child? How can one be sure that they will live to adulthood without being hit by a car? How will they perceive all discussions about proper behaviour in public if they see their father and mother brazenly disregarding them every day?

Another reason for child injuries (even when traffic rules are observed) is the carelessness, recklessness, and intoxication of drivers. In such cases, any severity of punishment cannot compensate for the loss of life and health, nor the irreversible loss of respect for traffic rules, both for the child involved in an accident and for their parents and relatives. A driver, seeing children in front of them in public, must treat them as an object requiring heightened attention, behaving with maximum caution and correctness. After all, they are dealing with a person who lacks the skills and experience of public behaviour, who has not yet mastered traffic rules, and who may become confused or make mistakes in a difficult situation.

To prevent accidents and attract the "attention of children" when driving vehicles during daylight hours, it is necessary to turn on the low beam headlights. Responsibility for the specified offense is provided for by Art. 18.14, Part 3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus and entails a penalty in the form of a warning or a fine of 2 base units.

The State Automobile Inspectorate of Lepel District urges everyone who cares about the future of our children to take an active part in carrying out events and thereby prevent the death and injury of children on the roads.