Children Urged To Brigten Up For Winter

A CAMPAIGN has been launched to encourage primary schoolchildren in the county to brighten up on their bikes this winter.
The campaign is being run by Oxfordshire County Council?s Road Safety team and technology company, 3M.
Forty-nine child cyclists aged 15 and under were hurt in reported injury accidents in Oxfordshire in 2005, with six sustaining serious injuries.
Although the majority of these accidents were not the child?s fault, cyclists can help reduce the risk by a combination of training, cycle helmets, roadworthy bicycles and conspicuous clothing.

3M, which has a site at Abingdon, has donated high visibility vests to the Road Safety team for children to wear while they are having ?on road? cycle training, which is provided free of charge by Oxfordshire County Council.

The first school to receive the vests is All Saints School, Didcot, where a group of youngsters have just completed their cycle training.

Councillor David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council?s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: ?We are very grateful to 3M for their gift of hi-visibility vests to school children. I hope the school makes good use of them on future cycling training courses.?

Wendy Jennings, County Council Road Safety Officer, added: ?It is essential that children are visible to traffic while they are out on the roads. They are loaned a high visibility vest for their training and are encouraged to wear something light or bright when out and about after they?ve completed the course.?

It is part of a wider road safety initiative by the company that involves 20,000 vests being distributed to schools close to 3M sites up and down the UK.

The company has also teamed up with teachers and the Department for Transport to create an interactive website ? 3M Streetwise ? packed with information teaching children how to avoid road hazards and take greater care walking to school.