Pupils help charity launch new road safety project

A new road safety project has been launched in Warwickshire which aims to make local streets safer for people who walk or cycle and spread important messages about the dangers of speeding traffic and pollution.

Pupils from George Eliot School in Nuneaton are some of the first young people from Warwickshire to take part in the project 'Youth for Brake', the campaign by road safety charity Brake.

The project for 11-16 year olds is being offered to five secondary schools or youth groups in Warwickshire thanks to Brake’s partnership with fellow NGO Brightkidz and funding from the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, Philip Seccombe. Pupils from Nicholas Chamberlain School, in Bedworth, are also taking part – leaving just three spaces left for this year.

In 2018, 35 people were killed, and 325 people were seriously injured on Warwickshire’s roads [1]. There was a total of 1,654 road casualties – the equivalent of five people being hurt every day on a Warwickshire road. But last year child casualty figures for 0-16 year olds reduced by 29%, with 133 children being injured in 2018 compared to 187 children in 2017.

On average, six children are killed or seriously injured on roads in Britain every day [2], and the World Health Organization says road crashes are the leading killer of children and young adults (aged 5–29) globally [3].

Youth for Brake aims to give young people the knowledge, skills and confidence to lead a campaign and engage with their peers about road safety and the dangers posed by transport. With support from Brake, the youngsters set up a committee, choose a road safety or sustainable travel topic, run their own campaign and then evaluate their successes and present their work at a special event next year.

It’s a chance for young people to work with their friends to shout out about the need for changes that can make Warwickshire safer for people who walk or cycle, and spread important messages about the dangers of speeding traffic and pollution.

Brake has been helping schools, parents and young people promote road safety for almost 25 years. As part of this project, young people can also fundraise to support Brake’s work campaigning for safer roads and supporting people who have been bereaved or seriously injured following a road crash. Brake also has support from Toyota Manufacturing UK Charitable Trust to run the Youth for Brake project in schools close to the car manufacturer’s plants in Deeside, North Wales, and Burnaston, in Derby.