The race is on to meet Utrecht’s road safety label target
With 18 months to go to the end of CIVITAS MIMOSA, the Utrecht Mayor and Council are on a mission with the help of CIVITAS MIMOSA dissemination team to sign up 80% (82 schools) of the 102 schools to the Road Safety Label Programme. Starting out as a Council led proactive instrument, the sign up rate at the start of MIMOSA was eight, as it stands now under CIVITAS MIMOSA, the current rate is 70.
With the increased number of school drop offs and pick ups by parents in cars compounded by the lack of knowledge in younger children about road safety, the risk to children’s lives is acute. Designed as a proactive instrument, the Road Safety Label aims to share the responsibility of making walking and cycling safer to school amongst schools, parents, children & the Council. As part of the programme, the city of Utrecht facilitates the schools with support in formulating their road safety policy. Under Civitas Mimosa, the Road Safety Label has received communications resources allowing for increased stakeholder liaison and promotional materials such as information packs, bike arm bands reflectors. Furthermore, the council helps implements infrastructural school zones around schools warning motorists with visible and recognisable signs. Warnings include red/yellow poles and the word school in the street pavement and signs with speed limits of 30km/h in case of a 50km/h street and 15km/h in case of a 30km/h street . For their part, schools sign up to actively encourage this in the classroom environment. Parents also commit to teaching road safety to children, adopting safe behaviour when driving and increasing their trips to and from school by means of sustainable transport. At a time with the threat of cuts hanging over the Road Safety Label, support from CIVITAS MIMOSA and the new deputy mayor ensured that the Road Safety Label looks set to secure its goal of securing 80% of school sign-up involving children, parents, schools and councils.
