Representatives of the Council’s Road Safety team have been working alongside partners from Wiltshire Police and other agencies over the past two weeks to deliver the Junior Good Citizen programme for Year 6 pupils.
This annual event takes place at the Punjabi Community Centre in Gorse Hill, and teaches children about a range of safety issues that they may come across in everyday life.
The road safety scenario focuses on vehicle stopping distances as many children of this age still believe that an approaching car can stop in time if they step out into the road.
The children are asked to guess how far it would take for a car travelling at 30mph to stop, and then pace out the actual distance on the ground. Very few children get the answer right first time, and scarily, some think that a car can stop within just a few feet.
The children also discuss what can increase this distance – things such as wet or icy weather, poorly maintained brakes and tyres, poor road surfaces, or distracted or impaired drivers.
As a fun end to the session the children get to try the ‘beer goggles’ whilst negotiating an obstacle course to demonstrate one effect of alcohol on a driver’s senses.
