Be a bright spark! IAM RoadSmart backs Stay Bright campaign to cut child road casualty numbers as days get shorter

IAM RoadSmart is backing the FIA’s Stay Bright campaign, which is encouraging youngsters to wear bright reflective clothing on their way to and from school as the days get shorter.

The campaign is a Europe-wide initiative timed to coincide with children returning to school this month – and aims to support them in getting safely to and from school, during the key risk periods of early morning and late afternoon.

Each year, more than 800 children under the age of 15 are killed on European roads and 100,000 are injured (reference 1) with the biggest ‘at risk’ age for accidents being 12-years-old.

In the UK, total reported child casualties rose by 6.2% to 16,727, compared with 2013 - there was a similar rise of 5% in the number of seriously injured child casualties and five more child deaths in 2014 (reference 2).

The FIA campaign has won the backing of a host of Formula 1 stars including McLaren pair Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo.

IAM RoadSmart has been actively involved in the campaign and through its local volunteer network will be handing out reflective key rings and stickers to 2,500 school children.

Sarah Sillars, IAM RoadSmart chief executive officer, said: “We all remember walking to and from school in the dark. Young school children are likely to have other things on their own minds - not road safety.

“So it’s important for us grown-ups to make sure children are aware that as drivers, we can’t always see them – and they have to literally ‘stay bright’ to make sure they don’t become a victim.

“School years, for many of us, are our happiest and enabling our children to enjoy the freedom of the journey to and from school safely, is an important life lesson as well as something they’ll hopefully remember favourably.”

For more information about the campaign visit http://www.staybright.org/

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Reference 1: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/road_safety/users/children/index_en.htm  

Reference 2: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-in-great-britain-main-results-2014

Further information from:

IAM RoadSmart press office – 020 8996 9777 – press.office@iam.org.uk       

ISDN broadcast lines available

Follow us:

On Facebook: www.facebook.com/IAMRoadSmart      

On Twitter: @IAMRoadSmart  

IAM RoadSmart has a mission to make better drivers and riders in order to improve road safety, inspire confidence and make driving and riding enjoyable. It does this through a range of courses for all road users, from online assessments through to the advanced driving and riding tests. IAM RoadSmart is the trading name of all businesses operated by the UK’s largest road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and was formed in April 2016 combining the IAM, IAM Drive & Survive, PDS and IAM Driver Retraining Academy. The organisation has 92,000 members and campaigns on road safety on their behalf. At any one time there are over 7,000 drivers and riders actively engaged with IAM RoadSmart’s courses, from members of the public to company drivers, while our Driver Retraining Academy has helped 2,500 drivers to shorten their bans through education and support programmes.

To find out more about IAM RoadSmart products and services visit the new website www.iamroadsmart.com      

To find out the name of your own local IAM RoadSmart group please visit: https://wwwiamroadsmart.com/local-groups        

ENDS ALL