New high visibility road safety campaign helps children walk safely to school

With winter drawing in, many children now find themselves walking to and from school in the dark.

According to Highway Agency statistics,* this is one of the most dangerous times of year, with accidents at their peak during the hours children travel to and from school.  In fact, road deaths account for about two thirds of all accidental deaths amongst children aged 5-14 - with boys at greater risk than girls – and 42% of all road deaths happen in darkness.

To raise awareness and help keep children safe when travelling to school, especially during the Autumn and Winter months, Natures Way Foods (NWF) is launching a new Safer Roads campaign. The campaign considers all modes of transport under one umbrella and through education and action aims to highlight the importance of driving safely on our roads.  For local schools NWF will offer real practical support by providing free high visibility florescent jackets, which can be worn by children who walk or cycle to school.  Adult jackets will also be available for parents who make the journey with their children.

Sarah Baldock, Head of Marketing at NWF explains the scheme, “Increasingly, children and their parents are being encouraged to walk, scooter or cycle to and from school.  However, keeping children safe – particularly in the autumn and winter months – can be problematic and so we are working with local schools, and supporting West Sussex County Council’s range of existing road safety education initiatives, to ensure children and their parents are kept as safe as possible on our roads.”

“As well as providing a number of local primary schools with free high visibility florescent jackets for the children to wear as they travel to and from school, we are also promoting good driving practices within our company and our distribution partners.  We hope this campaign will create more awareness of the issues around travelling safely and driving with care within the local area.”

To communicate the campaign, NWF has produced car stickers for all NWF personnel, alongside a Safer Roads information leaflet for staff, schools and visitors. It has also produced a separate leaflet aimed specifically at large vehicle drivers – whether they are delivery drivers or the company’s haulage partners**.  This special leaflet features a map of the area directing the vehicles to the NWF factories at Selsey and Runcton, and highlights areas of caution along the main routes, along with residential speed limits. Both leaflets stress the importance of driving safely and aim to encourage careful driving at all times.

Seal Primary school has been activity involved with NWF from the outset of the campaign and has already requested 420 florescent jackets to be distributed within the school community.   Eileen Ockwell, at Seal says, “We are delighted to be part of this initiative and very grateful to NWF for their support.  Many of our children come to school by ‘walking bus’ and visibility is a big issue on local roads.  We know that the florescent jackets make a huge difference and hope that this campaign will raise awareness amongst drivers in the area.”