Every year, more than 1700 people die on UK roads. Another 30,000 receive serious, life-changing injuries. *
The theme of this year’s National Road Safety Week is ‘After the Crash – every road victim counts’ and an interactive session run by local company Longcliffe Quarries Ltd has brought this message to life for Year 7 Bakewell students.
The company took along two of its HGVs to the school – a 44-tonne articulated tanker lorry; and a 32-tonne rigid tipper truck. The event aimed at emphasising safety messages, particularly focussing on vulnerable road users who account for nearly half of fatalities on UK’s roads.
Vulnerable road users include pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. Longcliffe’s educational session included an opportunity to sit in the lorry driver’s cab, providing the young students with an impactful first-hand view of visibility limitations and blind spots.
The event also saw the whole of Year 7 students working through an exercise around the ‘tipper’ lorry to understand how to be as safe as possible as a pedestrian. The interactive work was complemented by a quiz, for which Longcliffe awarded a prize to the winner in each of the eight form groups.
The students were also taught about the differences between Zebra, Pelican and Toucan crossings and how to cross without a crossing. Longcliffe also set a Zebra crossing up in front of the tipper lorry: students sat in the cab to understand the blind spots in front of the lorry, with the aim of discouraging them to cut quickly across on a crossing in front of a lorry.
Lady Manners School Head of Year 7 Hayley Hallam said: “Road safety is such an important issue for us, and we want all of our students to feel safe as they travel to and from school. By getting the students actively involved in this event, we hope it has highlighted the dangers of blind spots, speeding and irresponsible parking.
“The students thoroughly enjoyed being able to sit in the driver’s seat and see first- hand the view that the HGV drivers have of the road ahead.”
Student comments included:
“I really loved the event we had at school. I was impressed at how luxurious the cabs were! It made me respect how hard it is to drive a lorry and how hard they work to help keep us safe. It was so brilliant, and they even gave us our own high-vis jackets to wear and keep.” (Luke)
“I think that the road safety event was exceptional and really informative. It helped me have an overview of the roads and lorries and be empathetic to the drivers and the situation. It has educated me using insight and activity as well as the opportunity to go up into the cab and understand the view of the drivers when on the road.” (Emily)
As part of the team who took the students through the safety exercises, Longcliffe’s Head of Health and Safety Tony Woodroffe added: “Safety is Longcliffe’s number one focus – not just for the 190 employees, but also for visitors, contractors, customers and everyone in the local community. It’s important we play our part in educating about safety, particularly for young people who may be walking or cycling to school. Giving people a view from both the driver’s cab and the area around the vehicle is the best way of getting safety messages across.
“Our mostly new fleet is fitted with the latest technology – including a range of cameras and warning devices – but there will always be a blind spot. Having an opportunity to show these students this from the driver’s perspective was invaluable.”
Longcliffe presented the students with a ‘Be Safe, Be Seen’ high visibility waistcoat to take home.
*https://www.brake.org.uk/road-safety-week
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