Teaching kids traffic sense
H. Kishie Singh

IT was an experiment that the police in Wales thought would give the children some training in road sense.

Ten children were taken in a bus to an outdoor alcohol/drug abuse rehabilitation programme. On the way the bus driver received a radio call, asking him to divert the bus to the outskirts of a town called Merthyr Tydfil — a lovely Welsh name. The reason for the call was that there had been an accident and help was required.

The children arrived on the scene where two cars had had a headlong crash. Twisted steel, broken glass and blood all over the cars’ interiors and road greeted the children. There was a crowd of policemen, firemen and doctors on the scene. Some of the victims of the crash looked severely injured and were friends of the rehabilitation group.

The children, all teenagers, were informed that the accident had been staged and was not real. The counsellors, who were there to monitor and help the students, said some of the students tried to be of some help. Others felt shocked and became agitated.

The purpose of the exercise was to target teenagers who stole cars for joy rides. Two children had died as the result of a joy ride in a stolen car only a week before.

Said one counsellor, "The idea was to stop kids from stealing cars and driving dangerously, risking their own lives and lives of the members of the public." It was the first time such shock tactics had been used as a treatment for suspected joy riders," said a police source.

A 16-year-old boy had this to say: "It was an awful shock and I panicked right away. I could see my cousin inside one of the cars and I will never forget that feeling!"

Are such shock treatments necessary? What do they do for the children, who are at an impressionable age? "This vision could stay with you for a lifetime," says Keith Tewler, spokesman for the National Association for the Care and Rehabilitation of Offenders. "Exposure to such a traumatic incident can be risky and potentially dangerous."

Driving education, like all trainings, begins at home. In this case, the learning begins in the family car right since infancy. In the real sense, children start to learn driving habits and attitudes long before they get their first formal lesson, be it from dad, mom or a driving instructor.

A child who sees his father or mother driving aggressively, speeding, overtaking from the wrong side, jumping red lights, disobeying rules, cursing other drivers is in all likelihood going to do the same when he grows up. Driving that is learnt in the home environment is very powerful. So it better be good training. And what better way to teach than by example.

Teach the child to obey all road signs. Cell phones should not be used, smoking must not be done while driving. Be courteous to other road users, especially pedestrians, animal-drawn vehicles, cyclists and rickshaws. Remember a rule that is laid down for the sea: powered craft (motor boats, etc.) must give way to un-powered craft (sail boats, row boats). If we apply this rule to our roads, traffic will move better and safer.

Today, schools have programmes on sex education, alcohol and drug awareness, but driving seems to have been largely ignored. And yet this is one activity that will play a major role in our lives in the years to come.

If the schools are ignoring this activity, it becomes the parent’s responsibility to help their children be good drivers. It will be a major social achievement and make our roads safer.

On Indian roads we don’t need to stage-manage a show the likes of which the Welsh police did. There are enough real-life shocks for children and adults alike.

Happy motoring !