Lincolnshire Free Press and Ashwood Homes Be Bright Be Seen road safety campaign gets support from schools and clubs
Schools and clubs have shown their support for a new campaign that aims to make children safer.
The Lincolnshire Free Press — one of the papers to power LincsOnline — launched Be Bright Be Seen on Tuesday in partnership with Ashwood Homes.
The campaign will see free reflective discs given to schoolchildren for them to attach to their bags or coats and help them to stay visible as the dark nights approach.
From Tuesday, schools and clubs have been able to place orders for the free items and almost half of the discs were requested within a day of the launch.
Helping children to stay visible will become even more important when the clocks change at the end of the month — and the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership (LRSP) has supported the work of the campaign as part of its quest to cut the number of accidents.
Figures released by the partnership show that, last year, 216 pedestrians were killed or injured on Lincolnshire’s roads — and 54 of those under the age of 16. Of that 216 total, there were three fatalities and 42 serious injuries suffered.
An LRSP spokesman said: “The Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership always supports any initiatives which help to increase the visibility of our most vulnerable road users, especially children.
“Even the smallest glimmer of light that comes from reflective material helps alert others to a potential hazard ahead and keeps all our road users safe. This becomes even more important during those darker evenings and when visibility is reduced in poor weather, so this is a fantastic opportunity for people to take advantage of.”
Accident figures show that the hour between 3pm and 4pm witnessed the greatest number of pedestrian casualties under the age of 16 — showing the importance of tackling safety at this time of day.
An LRSP spokesman added: “We see far too many vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, dog walkers and cyclists wearing dark clothing, when just by the use of some reflective material, they can highlight their presence to others. However, it is equally important that when driving you use your lights in times of darkness or reduced visibility, so that they pick up somebody or something ahead and you can then react accordingly. This means that it is important as drivers to ensure your lights are functioning correctly and ensure they are turned on when needed and not to just rely on your automatic lights if applicable.
“A few small changes by us all can make the difference between someone being seriously injured or getting home safely. So always remember to avoid distractions, be patient with others and concentrate when using our roads.”
There are 3,000 discs available to be claimed — with schools, youth clubs, sports groups and nurseries all able to place an order for the reflective items on behalf of the children they look after.
Ashwood Homes managing director Nigel Parsons said: “We're proud to support the Be Bright Be Seen campaign. It's vitally important that our children are able to get to and from school safely and we want to do our bit to help with this.
"This campaign is a good way to ensure children are more visible and is a smart cost-free way to help parents and schools.
"We know our community's families want to lead a safe, happy and healthy life and hope that backing this campaign can play a part in contributing to this."
The discs can be claimed by any group that caters for children within the Lincolnshire Free Press newspaper circulation area, which is South Holland and some of the surrounding parts of Boston borough and South Kesteven.
You can make an application for your batch of discs at www.lincsonline.co.uk/bebright