This new attempt to make traffic safer is possible because various navigation services are participating in the campaign. Another achievement this year is the poem ‘Our schools have started again’. It was recited live in various locations in the Netherlands on Friday, 20 August.
Motorists can help schoolchildren cycling to school arrive safely by driving at an appropriate speed from Monday, 23 August, instead of driving at the speed limit. It also helps when motorists avoid school zones. Veilig Verkeer Nederland calls on schoolchildren to check their bicycles for defects and to practise the route to school in advance together with an adult.
Adjust your speed
Among schoolchildren under the age of 12 who cycle to school, almost twice as many victims are recorded in August and September as in other months. Driving too fast is an important cause of many traffic accidents. It is estimated that one-third of all fatal accidents are caused directly or indirectly by excessive speed. According to the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV), reducing the speed of motorised traffic is therefore one of the most effective measures for increasing the safety of schoolchildren in traffic. The campaign image therefore consists of a speedometer with schoolchildren hanging from it. The message: ‘Our schools have started again. Adjust your speed.’
Navigation providers take action
From Monday, 23 August, hundreds of thousands of motorists will receive the message to adjust their speed for schoolchildren cycling to school. This will happen in the car via the navigation screen. It concerns a pilot project with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, in which providers Waze, TomTom and Flitsmeister are participating. The notification appears shortly before departure or immediately after arrival. Outgoing Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (Infrastructure & Water Management) is hopeful about the test and the cooperation with navigation services. This concerns a local representation of international navigation systems. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen: “Safety must always come first. That is why it is good that motorists are now also being informed via navigation services about schoolchildren who are taking to the roads again,” said Van Nieuwenhuizen.
Awareness of road safety
According to VVN, road safety is not the first subject everyone thinks about as soon as they leave the house. Yet this would be good for everyone’s safety in traffic. Especially now that schools are reopening. To ensure that people become more aware of the importance of road safety, and of that of schoolchildren in particular, VVN launched the poem ‘Our schools have started again’ on Friday, 20 August. The poem was written by Justin Samgar and was recited live together with schoolchildren in several locations in the Netherlands on Friday, 20 August.
No longer the norm
In addition to reducing speed, the Netherlands can also improve road safety by driving undistracted and without a mobile phone more often (MONO). According to Veilig Verkeer Nederland, using a smartphone in traffic is no longer the norm in our country, but it still occurs. One-quarter (26%) of all motorists still use their smartphone in the car. Of these, 16% say they read messages or app messages while driving, and 9% even literally type messages in reply. Around 7% pay less attention to traffic because they make calls with the phone to their ear while driving. According to VVN, people’s social environment is increasingly disapproving of these risky actions.
Growing involvement of companies
According to VVN, the fact that unsafe behaviour in traffic is increasingly being disapproved of by people’s social environment is clearly demonstrated by the growing involvement of companies. One example is Athlon, the market leader in operational car leasing and mobility solutions and a partner of VVN. They are calling on their customers and lease drivers to be extra alert to schoolchildren cycling to school during this period and to adjust their speed accordingly. Athlon employees will also once again give guest lessons at, for example, primary schools attended by their children, with road safety as the central theme, but this year they are also asking their customers to participate. Employers can register with Athlon as guest teachers for the road-safety information campaign in their region. Only by working together can we reduce the number of traffic accidents in the Netherlands.
Photo caption: Justin Samgar and student Anna recite the poem “Our schools have started again” at De Hasselbraam primary school in Amsterdam.