Vulnerable Road Users > Children and Road Safety Education
Unfortunately, road-related incidents constitute one of the leading causes of death for children aged 1 – 14 in Manitoba.
To alleviate this problem, Manitoba Public Insurance partners with other interested stakeholders to develop two inter-related path-breaking educational programs.
These two structured programs constitute the basis of Manitoba Public Insurance’s life-long learning strategy for road safety.
The
first phase of the strategy is the Children’s Traffic Club. Based on
a very successful program in Scotland, this phase was developed in partnership
with the Child Day Care Branch of the Department of Family Services and Manitoba
Child Care Association.
The Children’s Traffic Club package contains five books which provide children in all pre-school facilities in Manitoba with basic road safety concepts and training including:
- Interpreting traffic signals (basic knowledge - red means stop, green means go, etc.)
- Recognizing types of vehicles (by sight and sound)
- Understanding differences between sidewalks and roadways, etc.
For more information on the Children's Traffic Safety Club, please contact our Road Safety department at 1-888-767-7640 (toll free) or 985-7199 in Winnipeg.
Kindergarten – Grade 10 Road Safety Education Program
The second phase of the strategy is the Kindergarten – Grade Ten Road Safety Education Program. This program was developed in partnership with Manitoba Department of Education, Citizenship and Youth. The program is aligned with the Manitoba Health Education/Physical Education Curriculum. The material was developed to support the specific learning outcomes of the new curriculum in Manitoba schools.
This structured school-based program is divided into three main components:
The Early Years: Kindergarten - Grade 4
- Kindergarten
- Understanding traffic and crosswalk signals
- Identifying safety helpers (school safety patrol or police)
- Learning basic “Walk Safe” and "Play Safe” rules
- Grade One
- Understanding the dangers of distractions (toys, friends, and more)
- Learning about seatbelts
- Practicing risk avoidance behaviour (not playing by the side of the road, etc.)
- Grade Two
- Practicing school bus safety
- Exposure to beginner bicycle safety and helmet use
- Identifying hazardous behavior (non-seat-belt use, etc.)
- Grade Three
- Understanding railway crossing risks
- Learning advanced bicycle safety techniques (riding in groups, hand signals, etc.)
- Understanding and identifying pedestrian risks
(around buses, in playgrounds, on
sidewalks) - Grade Four
- Identifying responsibilities for prevention and persuasion (keeping friends safe)
- Understanding importance of protective gear (when riding bicycles, scooters, snowmobiles and ATVs)
- Setting goals for future road safety behaviours
The Middle Years: Grade 5 - Grade 8
- Grade Five
- Introducing traffic collision statistics
- Learning about risks associated with certain activities (jogging, riding ATVs and others)
- Introducing group work element to enhance sound road safety behaviors among younger children
- Grade Six
- Understanding and exploring road safety scenarios
- Recognizing decision-making influences in complex situations
- Learning “emergency steps” in the event of a bicycle accident, vehicle collision, etc.
- Grade Seven
- Exploring society's belief about road safety issues
- Reinforcing personal responsibility in decision making
- Learning about road safety (statistics and history) in Manitoba
- Grade Eight
- Understanding laws that promote personal and community safety (impaired driving and seat belt legislation)
- Researching road safety issues
- Reacting to peer pressure
The Senior Years: Grades Nine and Ten
- Recognizing the dangers of impaired driving
- Understanding unsafe speed and its consequences
- Identifying aggressive driving behaviours
A physics Motion Module has also been developed as part of the school-based road safety educational strategy. This joint project was undertaken by Manitoba Public Insurance and Manitoba Department of Education, Citizenship and Youth.
