Kids' TV characters in new road safety program

Sesame Street’s Elmo and Grover will be the featured players in a new road initiative launched recently at Federation Square in Melbourne.

The program, which is targeted at pedestrian and driveway incidents as part of the UN’s Decade of Action for Road Safety, was developed by Sesame Workshop (the not-for-profit organisation behind Sesame Street), Kidsafe, the TAC, RACV and Holden.

It aims to educate children, parents and teachers on the importance of simple road safety practices.

Safety messages will be delivered to children via a classroom-based storybook entitled ‘‘Elmo Stays Safe. How Furry Little Monsters – and Children – Play Safely’ that follows Elmo and his mum as they make their way safely to the playground.

The book is supported by activity cards, posters and stickers, as well as downloadable activity sheets, and will initially be delivered to all family day care services throughout Victoria, with national distribution to follow.

With its supporting material the book will be used to drive home the need for road safety awareness around children
and demonstrates the importance of:
>> Safe pedestrian practices such as holding an adult’s hand while crossing the road
>> Playing in safe areas, and treating driveways and car parks like the road
>> Safe car travel for children, using correct restraints and things to be aware of when entering and leaving the vehicle
>> Parents and caregivers modelling safe and appropriate behaviours, like always wearing seat belts themselves.

Robert Caulfield, President of Kidsafe Victoria, said, “A recent coroner’s report in Victoria has reinforced the need for awareness on driveway runovers and pedestrian safety among children as a high priority.”

In the three-year period from 2006-2008, there were six deaths and 430 seriously injured pedestrians aged 0-14 years in Victoria. A further 14 children under six years of age were killed and 73 were seriously injured as a result of driveway incidents between January 2000 and September 2012.

Picture: Sesame Street’s Elmo and Grover with the Victorian Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, the Hon Wendy Lovell. Photo by Georgia Baynes Smith.

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