Teaching the road safety rules to the kids is as important as teaching them mannerisms and discipline. The parents should start teaching road safety rules and regulations to their children as early as possible. When your kids start going to school, some of them in the school bus, they should be able to manage their own safety, as they might not be accompanied by you or a caretaker every time. Hence, here are some basic rules of road safety for kids to know
Road safety for kids
Many parents wonder why road safety is important for children, as they are always there with their children to take care on the road. But they should realize that every passing day their kid will become independent. It is important to teach the basic rules and guidelines to kids for safety. According to the WHO, in most of the countries, road traffic injuries are one of the leading causes of deaths and out of all the road traffic injury-related deaths, 21% were children.
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Just telling your kid to be careful will not help, you will have to ensure that they are well aware of the safety rules. There are some important road safety rules for kids, which are listed below.
#1. Crossing the road
This is the first and the most important rule of road safety for children. Road crossing is one of the leading causes of the road accident because the children do not know how to cross the road properly. Teach them to use the designated pedestrian crossing while crossing the road. Also tell them about the overhead bridges, subways, and the zebra crossing.
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#2. Look on both sides and then move
If your child needs to cross the road and there is no pedestrian crossing there, teach him to stop, look at both the sides of the road and after ensuring that no vehicle is coming from any side, only then cross the road. If any vehicle is coming from either of the sides, the child should wait and let the vehicle pass and then only he should move.
#3. Know the traffic signals
The traffic signal has different lights with different meanings. Tell your child that green light denotes go’, a red light means you need to stop, and yellow means that you can go slow.
#4. Other Signs
There are some other signs on the road, which are also important to know. The signal that displays a walking man denotes that you can walk or the pedestrians can move in their respective directions. If this sign of walking man turns green, then only the pedestrians can start walking. If the sign of the walking man is red, it means that you cannot walk. At that time the child must wait till the symbol turns green.
Similarly, there are many other road signs of road safety for toddlers to teach.
#1. Be attentive
One of the essential rules of road safety is to be attentive and alert when you are on the road. It is important to listen as well. Sometimes when you are crossing or walking on the road, you may not be able to see the coming vehicle, but you can listen to the approaching vehicle. This rule is helpful in the road bends when the vehicle is not seen. The driver of the vehicle will blow horn while coming from a bending road, which your kid needs to listen and then make a move. Even if the driver is not blowing the horn, teach your kid to sense the sound of the engine. Hence, it is important to be alert and listening.
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#2. No running on the streets
Tell your child that when he is on the road, he just cannot run. He needs to walk slowly. At times, while playing the children are often seen running on the roads out of excitement, which is very wrong and dangerous. Tell your child to remain calm and not run on the road.
#3. Use walking paths
Kids are little casual and can walk anywhere on the road. This is not good for their own safety and also for the drivers on the road. The best way to avoid accidents is to always use the sidewalks which are meant for the pedestrians. Encourage your child to locate the walking path on the road and use it.
#4. Follow bicycle rules
When your kid is old enough to ride a bicycle, do not let him go on the road unless you brief him some important safety rules. Buy him a helmet to start with. Secondly, tell them to follow the road lanes. The child should not keep changing the lanes. Thirdly, ask him to go slow and do not race with other vehicles on the road. Lastly, tell your child not to overload the vehicle. A cycle is meant just for two people and not more than that.
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#5. Bus safety
Many children use the bus to commute to school. They should follow bus safety rules too such as the children should not take their hands out of the window, not stand in the moving bus, look here and there before getting down, be calm and do not hurry to get home from the bus, etc.
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