Member Article

Wolverhampton firms improve road safety for pupils

More than 900 pupils from across the West Midlands have been educated on the rules of the road to help prevent accidents and save lives.

Children from five different schools across the region took part in the week-long event, which was organised by Blakemore Logistics.

They were given the opportunity to view an A.F Blakemore vehicle to highlight the dangers of playing near large HGVs, as well as a series of classroom activities designed to showcase potential issues of travelling to and from school.

Spillard Safety Systems was again invited to take part and experts from the Wolverhampton-based firm laid out specially designed mats to demonstrate all of the blind spots a driver has to contend with.

It was the first time the Road Safety Week targeted Year 7 pupils, a group specially chosen as for many of them this will be the first time they commute to school on their own.

Schools who took part include Heath Park, Moseley Park, Sandwell Academy, Shire Oak Academy and St Thomas More.

Liz Bell, A.F. Blakemore Community Affairs Officer, said: “As a food and drink distributor - with more than 300 of our vehicles on the road each day - we have a responsibility to educate pupils about the importance of road safety.

“Each year we incorporate a new element into our core road safety campaign and we are delighted to be partnering with Spillard Safety Systems to raise awareness of blind spots and the risks that young people may come across on their journey to school.”

Spillard Safety Systems’ Carl Falconer agreed: “We are very passionate about saving lives on our roads so were delighted to join forces with our client A.F. Blakemore to drive home the ‘safety’ message.

“The mats are a very simple approach, but really hit home and immediately pupils and teachers can see how large the blind spots are for drivers of these large vehicles and what they can do to avoid being in them.

“If the campaign prevents one accident or saves a life then the entire week will have been worthwhile.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .