Development and Property Services

Roads and Transportation

ACCIDENT PREVENTION - Education

Education measures, which include training and publicity, aim to provide road users with the knowledge and skills needed to use the roads safely. This function is carried out by the Department of Development Services.

Parents

Educational research since the 1960's has shown the overriding importance of the child's home and community and that any meaningful change must involve parents. Parents are therefore encouraged to take active roles in:

• ensuring the safety of their children on car journeys by the use of child restraints;
• teaching children road safety;
• safe practices in the journey to and from school;
• checking the safety of cycles.

Pre-Fives

A number of initiatives are carried out with the under-fives. These include:

• talks for children, parents and staff in playgroups and nursery schools;
• Nursery Nurse training in Kilmarnock College;
• the Children's Traffic Club in Scotland;
• the child restraint loan scheme which operates at Ayrshire Central Hospital through which parents   can hire a baby seat for a small fee;
• publicity campaigns.

Primary Schools

Work undertaken in schools includes:

• Ways to Safety which consists of teacher's handbooks and pupil's workbooks for each stage, all linked to the 5-14 curriculum;
• talks by road safety staff in support of project work;
• in-service sessions for teachers;
• traffic trails where pupils study traffic-related features of the environment in the vicinity of their school;
• visits from theatre groups;
• multi-agency safety days; 
• Danger Detectives experiential learning event involving different agencies who offer scenarios on accident prevention and personal safety;
• Cycle Training for P6/P7 pupils;
• information and publicity for parents.

Secondary Schools

Work in secondary schools includes:

• provision of resources;
• pre-driver training course for senior pupils;
• visits from theatre groups;
• Scottish Accident Prevention Council's public speaking competition.

Young Drivers

In addition to pre-driver training courses in secondary schools, support is given to the Pass Plus scheme which offers new drivers insurance discounts if they take extra lessons on topics like driving on motorways and driving at night. Publicity materials for this group are also distributed.

 Safety and Security Courses

As many women are concerned about personal safety whilst driving, a course for women which provides advice on security issues has been devised.

Adult Training/Special Schools

Materials and support are available for Adult Training Centres and special schools.

Teacher Training

Input into courses at Craigie College is provided by South Ayrshire Council in association with East and North Ayrshire.

Youth Groups/Uniformed Organisations

Although the main outlet for educational programmes is schools, a number of activities are carried out with groups like the Girl Guides and the Boys Brigade. The approach used is less formal than in schools, with quizzes, competitions and games. Resources are available for group leaders.

Summer Playschemes

Materials are made available to, and activities carried out in summer playschemes on request.

Dog Training

Test papers and certificates at various levels are available to dog clubs. The training is designed to ensure owners have control over their dogs so that they do not contribute to road accidents.

Equestrian Safety

The British Horse Society's Riding and Road Safety Test is available on request and is run in association with the BHS. Candidates are tested on the Highway Code, the control of the horse and basic manoeuvres.
Publicity materials on the safety of riders are circulated to drivers.

Driving

The department supports the advanced driving tuition and better driving courses run by the local Institute of Advanced Motorists Group. It also provides driving and road safety courses to specified groups in association with the Social Work Department.

Motorcycling

The department refers requests for training to authorised training bodies, and makes publicity material available.

Walking Routes to Schools

At the request of the Education department, the RSTO assesses the safety of routes to school where a parent is seeking a travel pass on behalf of their child(ren) on safety grounds.

Liaison with Other Organisations

Liaison takes place with a number of agencies, each of which is involved in road safety:

• Scottish Accident Prevention Council;
• East Ayrshire Community Safety Forum;
• Scottish Road Safety Campaign;
• British Institute of Traffic Education 
     Research;
• Strathclyde Police;
• Health Service;
• West of Scotland Road Safety Forum;
• Royal Society for the Prevention of
     Accidents.

In addition, development of educational resources and planning of publicity campaigns is carried out on occasion with North and South Ayrshire Councils and with the Road Safety Training Sub Group of the Road Safety Forum.

Older People

Apart from general publicity, talks to elderly groups are available. Theatre group performances are arranged, where possible, as was done with the We're No Angels play which was well received by a number of older people's groups in East Ayrshire during 1997.

Publicity

The department supports national campaigns organised by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and the Scottish Road Safety Campaign through the widespread distribution of publicity materials. This can include press, radio and cinema advertising as well as leaflets, posters and displays.
Campaigns have also been run in association with North and South Ayrshire Councils on child restraints and child safety.
Press releases on local activities and events are issued on a regular basis and, in addition, a motoring/road safety column appears regularly in the Cumnock Chronicle. Staff participate in the Scottish Motor Show every two years.
A major media campaign was launched by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign in November 1997. Called Foolspeed, the campaign will run for five years and is aimed at changing drivers' attitudes to speeding.

Council Employees  

Driver awareness courses have been introduced for staff, and features regularly appear in the staff magazine.

Strathclyde Police

Strathclyde Police Traffic Department has a Forcewide responsibility to impart its road safety strategy to all road users who on the whole are receptive to educational and enforcement campaigns and initiatives. Road patrol officers realise the need to continually convey this distinctive road safety message across the full spectrum of road users. This cannot only be achieved by personal contact at the roadside but through formal presentations such as by the Traffic Education Support Team as well as media interest and participation in national and local campaigns.