Road Safety Week (Primary)

To promote road safety awareness, schools may host a week-long event organized by community partners, parent teacher councils, school staff and/or students.

The best time to organize a road safety week is at the beginning of the school year, or at the start of spring season when it is relatively warm and students are more frequently outdoors and near roads.

Goals

• Raise awareness of road safety issues, including distractions, environmental hazards and risk-taking behaviour.
• Promote behaviours that reinforce the Healthy Schools approach.
• Inform students about their responsibility in keeping themselves safe and healthy.
• Encourage students to have a responsible attitude to their own safety and to the safety of their peers

Community Linkages

Ensuring students are safe in and around their school community is not the sole responsibility of one teacher, one principal, or one parent/caregiver. The entire community is responsible for ensuring students are safe, knowledgeable and cautious pedestrians, passengers, cyclists and motorists.

Here are some examples how to mobilize community members around a Road Safety Week. For a a more comprehensive list of organizations and programs that may help connect your road safety event with the local community go to Road Safety Organizations and Programs. Remember to provide flexibility for differing levels of involvement.

• Ask businesses, pools and libraries to put road safety messages (include examples) on their outdoor signs so that students receive road safety messages both inside and outside of the school.
• Engage the OPP, or community policing to come to your school, as they have access to on-the-ground information about crashes and collisions, regulations and preventative behaviours.
• Public Health Units have mandates related to personal injury prevention with a special focus on children and youth. A Road Safety Week is an ideal opportunity for Public Health staff to assist in coordinating school-wide events, presentations and lessons.
• The CAN-BIKE safe cycling skills program is the standard for bicycle education across Canada. CAN-BIKE Courses teach riding and traffic analysis skills as well as collision avoidance techniques. They also provide the basics on safe equipment and a basic bike inspection. This group could enhance a physical education lesson, or provide a lunch n’ learn opportunity during Road Safety Week.

Suggested Model

This package provides a variety of materials, activities and suggestions to create a one-week road safety event (or one day) – simply select from the resources. When you begin your planning process, use the list below as a checklist to identify which tools you intend to use.

Road Sign Awareness

• Road Safety Morning Announcements
• Road Sign Posters
• Road Signs Quiz
• Traffic Lights

Bicycle Safety

• Cycling ABC Quick Check
• Bicycling Safety 
• Test Your Bike Safety Smarts
• Cycling Safety Mix and Match
• Bicycle Helmet FAQ’s

Recreational Safety

• ATV Safety Posters

Additional Resources

• Organizational and Planning Tools
• Guest Speakers and Programs
• Letter to Parents/Guardians

Road Safety Information Carousel

Invite organizations to set up a carousel of information displays on road safety issues, risky behaviours and preventative measures, to better inform students of all the safety resources that are available to them. Go to Sample Letter to Invite Organizations  for an example of how to start that conversation.

Consider inviting individuals from the list in the Guest Speakers and Programs section who might be able to partake in your event.