Playing, riding and walking safely
Children are small, fast and unpredictable. They’re more likely to be injured close to home, often in their own street or driveway. Even at home, a responsible adult needs to watch young children carefully as they can move quickly, especially when they’re unsupervised.
Keep messages simple and clear when talking to children about road safety.
Playing safely
Make some family rules about playing safely away from roads, car parks, footpaths and driveways. Talk about these rules with your children and then stick to them every time they play outside, use bikes, trikes or scooters.
Riding safely
The safest places for young children and beginners to learn to ride bikes, scooters and skateboards are in enclosed areas. This helps to prevent falling onto the footpath, driveway or road while they’re learning to ride. Children need ongoing adult help and supervision in safe, off-road locations to develop their skills.
Helmet safety
Young children who wear helmets from when they start riding their first wheeled toy will be safer from head injuries. They’ll also be more likely to continue to wear helmets throughout their lives.
A young child’s skull is soft and can be easily injured.
To protect children when riding wheeled toys or bikes, they must wear a correctly fitted and Australian Standards approved helmet.
Walking safely
The best way to keep young children safe from injuries is to hold their hand or hold them close.
By holding onto children, you can stop them from running into dangerous situations. Even though children may complain about holding hands, explain family rules about safe walking. Doing this and reinforcing safe behaviour will help children learn how to become safer pedestrians.
For more information please visit https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/parents/riding-walking