A new awareness campaign focussing on the safety of children on our roads has hit Eurobodalla in time for the busy summer holidays.
Council has joined forces with the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation that was established in memory of four-year-old Tom McLaughlin who tragically passed away in a pedestrian road accident while on a Central Coast family vacation in 2014.
Eurobodalla Shire Council is the newest local government to adopt the Foundation’s It’s Holiday Time: Slow Down, Kids Around campaign, installing signs at busy holiday hot-spots reminding visitors and locals to hold a child’s hand when walking on or near a road and for drivers to be extra vigilant these holidays.
Between 2011 and 2015, 37 children aged five to 12 were killed and a further 3149 injured on NSW roads. This includes 732 pedestrians, 2148 passengers and 239 cyclists.
Tom’s mum Michelle McLaughlin said it was important to make road safety a daily topic of conversation, especially when on holidays, as children were excited and in unfamiliar places.
“After we lost our precious Tom, we wanted to honour him by educating other families and children about the importance of child road safety, especially when in unfamiliar environments whilst on holidays,” she said.
“One of the most important messages is that we, as parents and carers, need to hold hand the hand of our children when on and around a road until they are at least 10 years old. Young children have not yet developed the cognitive ability around distance and speed, and they are very unpredictable.
“We are so pleased to have Eurobodalla Shire Council support these important messages and incorporate the campaign into their road safety strategy.”
Village Centre and Bridge Plaza Batemans Bay has installed 12 of the new signs in its car parks.
Operations manager Jason Wallis said he was very happy to support the important pedestrian safety campaign.
“It is an extremely busy period at the Village Centre in the lead up to Christmas and we want to remind drivers to be extra cautious in the car park as there are a lot of distracted and excited kids around at this time of year,” he said. Media Release
