Ride to school event raises safety concerns

Ride to school event raises safety concerns

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Bletchley Park Primary School students dressed and coloured their bikes last week.

A Southern River school survey of parents has shown they commonly misunderstood helmet laws.

On March 1 children from Bletchley Park Primary School were asked to ride their bicycles or scooters to school in an effort to promote exercise and road safety.

Students decorated their transport of choice and helmets to mark the occasion, and were greeted by a giant teddy bear upon arrival at the campus.

Gosnells Police Station officers were also in attendance, signing autographs and teaching children the importance of wearing a helmet whether it is on a bicycle, scooter or skateboard.

Year 1 teacher Sarah Clark said increasing road safety for children was an important job and a parental survey had revealed helmet laws were not common knowledge.

“We did a survey with parents, who often thought riding a scooter to school didn’t require a helmet – but you do, even on the footpath,” she said.

“That’s a misconception.”

Gosnells Neighbourhood Watch group engraved vehicles with identification tags and year 1 teacher Sarah Clark said it was a great event.

“We had a parade with all the kids showing off their bikes,” she said.

Ms Clark said the event was about increasing road safety awareness among students, and followed a visit from the RAC earlier in the week.

It was the first Ride to School day the school had hosted, and Ms Clark said she hoped to see it again next year.