Safe Speed Forums

What a stupid message to give to kids

A SCHOOL has sparked road safety concerns after insisting its pupils wear dark coats during winter.

Parents of pupils at Dallam School, Milnthorpe, were sent letters reminding them of the school’s “high expectations” regarding uniform policy and telling them that “if a coat is worn, it must be dark coloured”.

But the letter has has angered some parents who say their children are being put at risk of being involved in an accident on their way to and from school.

And it has coincided with the launch of a national THINK! road safety campaign that urges children to ‘Be Bright, Be Seen’.

“I was gobsmacked that we got this letter,” said a concerned Dallam parent, who did not wish to be named. “They seem obsessed with uniforms at Dallam.

“To get a letter saying that they have got to have dark coats – I just think it is absolutely ridiculous.

“What has happened to the policy of ‘be seen, be safe’?”

Another Dallam parent said: “I feel that coats are not part of the uniform. Is the school willing to provide reflective stuff if the child-ren have to wear dark clothing?”

Carl Christopher, of ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents), said: “From a road safety point of view, dark school uniforms are not a good idea. Children should make themselves as conspicuous as possible with fluorescent material.

“When the clocks have changed we do see an increase in pedestrian casualties and a lot of these are children coming from school.”

Steve Holdup, head teacher at Dallam School, said: “We have a consistent school uniform policy to try to make sure that everyone maintains a good standard. We are concerned that they look present-able outside of school as well as inside.

“In winter months they do wear coats. We insist that they wear coats that go over their blazers, not instead of the blazers and we insist that they are consistent with the uniform which is dark blue blazer and dark grey trousers.

“I’m very concerned about road safety and we would encourage parents to purchase fluorescent strips or belts, or trimmings on school bags, that would make them visible during hours of darkness on their way to school.

“However, wearing a bright or pink puffer jacket is not an appro-priate method of making yourself visible on your way to school.

“This is a very happy school and young people feel most comfortable when they know precisely what is expected of them.”

Last year seven children aged six to 11 were killed or seriously injured while walking in Cumbria.

A further three children were killed or seriously injured while cycling.
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/ ... e/?ref=rss

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nigel_bytes

it's alright cos if you hit that child that you can't see at 30 there is an 80% chance they will live.

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Oct 11 Birmingham Half Marathon. I am running for the British Heart Foundation.
http://www.justgiving.com/Rob-Taylor

Let's hope lessons in crossing the road without stepping into the path of a vehicle, especially when the driver cannot see them, is an important part of their curriculum.

Who wants to guess at those odds?

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Problem is these days that the idea seems to be "I can see you -THEREFORE you can see me" - applies to all pedestrians etc .There's no consideration for personal safety .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

That seems to apply to a few car drivers round our way when it is foggy or getting dusk.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

O/T, but that reminds me of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy):

"A towel can also be used for covering your head when faced with the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, as it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you. Daft as a brush, but very very ravenous"

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Simon

Yep terrible that we cannot educate with a good helping of common sense.

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Safe Speed for Intelligent Road Safety through proper research, experience & guidance.

Surely it is better to wear a hi-viz vest or Sam Browne over a black coat than to wear a light coloured coat. If the insistence on dark coloured uniform encourages the use of hi-viz apparel then it will have made a positive contribution to road safety..

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

And in that world, people would always abide by needlessly low limits without hesitation or question.
In this real world, people will happily do what is fair and sensible and ignore what is needlessly over-restrictive.

Face it: as soon as the child leaves the home (remember, most kids won't reason like us adults), they will remove those 'crappy unfashionable strips' rendering then invisible (much worse than wearing a decent, cosy, nice bright jacket), so completely undoing that theoretical contribution to road safety and making matters far, far worse.

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Views expressed are personal opinions and are not necessarily shared by the Safe Speed campaign

Why not just go the whole way .... make it law that all children must have shaven heads and surgically implanted flashing lights in their heads ... oh and I suppose we really ought to superglue their hands together and tie em to their feet so's they can't put a hat on to cover the flashing lights ... positive contribution to road safety .. result

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You only need two tools - WD40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape. :0)