Road safety campaign defied Bornholm rain and launched the season for school visits

This year, the campaign primarily focuses on Bornholm and Northern Jutland. In April and May, this is where the campaign’s lorries and drivers will teach more than 190 year groups in the just about 50 schools which have enrolled to learn how to act when meeting lorries in traffic.

Åvangsskolen in Rønne, Bornholm, was, therefore, chosen as the location for the kick-off and its schoolyard housed one of the campaign lorries. In the morning, the Head, Susanne Dam, welcomed everyone and the opening speech was then given by Lea Wermelin, MP, who could tell the more than 200 pupils of year groups 3 to 5 about the importance of road safety when going to school. Lea who is a former Åvangsskolen pupil then started the count-down together with the pupils gathered in the schoolyard before the pupils were given permission to dig into the cake. Thus the 2019 campaign was launched notwithstanding the hail, sleet and rain befalling the sunshine island.

Afterwards, teaching on road safety was conducted both in the classrooms and by the lorry, and the pupils were allowed to experience first-hand how difficult it was to spot their class mates in the lorry driver’s mirrors. Apart from the safety issues relating to lorries, the pupils were also taught the importance of being visible in traffic. After being taught in the classroom and by the lorry, the pupils received gift bags containing safety equipment in the form of traffic vests and reflective patches.

The objective of the campaign is to avoid accidents, including right-turn accidents, by teaching the pupils of the critical zones of lorries where the driver has very limited visibility. Although the recent years have been characterised by fewer accidents involving lorries, there is still a great need to inform especially the youngest road users of how to move about in traffic in a manner that prevents accidents.

The campaign is supported by a number of significant players in the transport industry, amongst others: DTL, Volvo Trucks, Danske Fragtmænd, Energiselskabet OK, Codan and the Danish Child Accident Prevention Foundation (Børneulykkesfonden).