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Mini Tour Optic 2000: 3 road safety reflexes from 5 years old
“Fasten your seat belt securely before you start the car!” This is the first thing that Laurence Dumonteil, trainer in road safety, says to Louise, 5 and a half years old, who discovers the pleasure of driving. And this is no coincidence, because according to her, the essential mission of parents is to make their child aware that every passenger in a car, in the front as in the back, must be buckled up.
A highway code for driver and… pedestrian!
Even if the seat belt bothers him, the sooner he understands what it is for, the better! Show him how to complete it on his own in order to make him responsible for his own safety, it must become a reflex from the first years. Explain that the belt should go over his shoulder and across his chest. Especially not under the arm, because in the event of impact, it presses on the ribs which can then puncture the vital organs located in the belly, and the internal injuries can be very serious. Before 10 years of age, a child must imperatively ride in the back, never in the front, and be installed in an approved car seat suitable for his size and weight. Other very useful recommendations for a small passenger: no arguments, no heckling, no shouting in the car, because it distracts the driver who needs calm to be attentive and responsive.
Road safety also concerns the child pedestrian
Here again, simple instructions are essential. First, hold the adult’s hand for the little ones and stay close by for the older ones when they move around town. Second, learn to walk on the house side, to “shave the walls”, not to play on the sidewalk, to move as far as possible from the edge of the road. Third, to give your hand or hold the stroller to cross, to look left and right to verify that there is no car in sight. The trainer reminds that a toddler only sees what is at his height, he misjudges distances and does not perceive the speed of a vehicle. It takes him 4 seconds to identify a movement and he sees less well than an adult, because his visual field is 70 degrees, so really narrowed compared to ours.
Learning road signs starts with the traffic lights
(Green, I can cross, orange, I stop, red, I wait) and the signs “Stop” and “No direction”. We can then introduce elements of the highway code by relying on the colors and shapes of road signs. The blue or white squares: this is information. The circles edged in red: it is a ban. The triangles edged in red: it’s a danger. The blue circles: it is an obligation. And last but not least, Laurence Dumonteil also advises parents to set an example, because that’s really how little ones learn best.