In addition to the exciting prospect of making new friends and learning a lot, a safe route to school is one of the most important challenges. Unless absolutely necessary, children should not be driven to school by car.
In order to get your children used to road traffic, everyone can start now. Parents should serve as role models and find and plan a safe route to school together with their children.
This does not have to happen alone. It is generally safer if parents and children get together to walk to school in small groups.
Practice walking to school together step by step. In doing so, you can look ahead and avoid difficult and even risky places such as roadworks and busy roads and instead plan the route according to criteria such as traffic lights, crosswalks and central islands. A small detour can sometimes be safer.
Parents should teach their children to recognize potential dangers on their own and react to them responsibly.
For example, explain traffic signs and practise changing traffic lights. Practice certain dangerous situations with your child. For example, discuss what they should do if a traffic light for pedestrians is green but a car is coming.
Over the course of the school year, you should observe changes on the way to school and adjust the route accordingly if necessary.
Regular reminders of safe behavior can help prepare children for typical situations and reinforce good habits.
Make sure that children are clearly visible to everyone on the road, even at dusk and in rainy weather. Bright or luminous clothing, a school bag with reflectors, so-called "Blinkis" or luminous high-visibility vests can help here.
Even if you are not personally affected, set an example and follow the traffic rules yourself when you are out and about by bike or car.
Drivers in particular should be especially careful and attentive in the coming weeks. In particular, speed limits around schools and kindergartens should be observed and spontaneous reactions from children should be expected.