Fleet Service GB, LiveWest and Cranbrook Education Campus teamed up to highlight Road Safety Week. Organised by ‘Brake’, the road safety charity, Road Safety Week runs from 14-20 November.
It is an annual campaign and the biggest road safety awareness event in the UK.
Thousands of organisations, schools and communities take part in Road Safety Week, with road safety demonstrations, events, awareness video screenings, talks and more.
During Road Safety Week, the police often do roadside checks of vehicles for safety, highlighting the dangers of poorly maintained vehicles and offering advice to drivers, or running speed checks and reminding the general public of how speeding is a major cause of accidents and contributor to deaths through road accidents.
Schools have been taking advantage of Road Safety Week to teach children about the highway code, or safety when crossing roads, cycling proficiency tests, and the importance of cycle helmets and high visibility when cycling,
The event reaches many people across the nation, reminding them of road safety, with the aim of preventing accidents.
Children in years four and five at Cranbrook Education Campus were given a demonstration by Paul Ayris, the fleet manager at the housing association firm LiveWest, on safety procedures and how all the housing association’s vans are checked before going out on the road.
Paul Ayris said: “We take road safety very seriously and it was lovely to be able to talk to the children at Cranbrook Education Campus about the importance of staying safe on the roads.
“We took along a van to demonstrate the blind spots which occur when driving. By sitting in the vehicle, they were able to appreciate the difficulty the driver can have in being able to see people depending on where they were positioned. We were able to highlight how important being visible at all times really is.”
Following on from the LiveWest practical demonstration, Andy Neale, from the Fleet Industry Advisory Group (FIAG), gave a road safety talk to the children on the theme of ‘see and be seen.’ This explained to the group how being visible to other road users was vitally important in keeping safe when using the roads, such as commuting to school.
Fleet Service GB Client Services Director, Sarah Clifford, explained: “Road safety is at the forefront of our business and all our product development.
“We have worked with LiveWest for almost four years, and been instrumental in significantly reducing the incident rate, by helping to develop and support a no-nonsense approach to driver safety, vehicle maintenance and driver training.
“Brake’s road safety week gives us an opportunity to highlight these positive changes and share our experience in making the road a safer place for all its users.”
Ben Hobbs, Deputy Headteacher of Primary at Cranbrook Education Campus, said: “Thanks to LiveWest for an enjoyable and informative assembly on road safety.
“Our year 4 and 5 children learnt a lot, at a time when they are starting to have more responsibility for themselves and are beginning to walk to school on their own.’
Dylan, a year four pupil, said: “It was more like a fun lesson than an assembly. I loved going in the van. Please say thanks to LiveWest for coming to help us.”
Photography by Gareth Williams.
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