New TV campaign to teach parents and children a "ThingleToodle" about road safety.

03 Feb 2005

Media Release - 3 February 2005

The Minister responsible for the Transport Accident Commission, John Lenders, today launched a new road safety television campaign to prevent young children being killed or seriously injured on Victorian roads.

Mr Lenders said the campaign, Act Safely: Copycats are watching you, was developed by the TAC and VicRoads and urges parents to become positive role models for young children learning about safe road use.

Two animated television advertisements, which feature the popular children's road safety character ThingleToodle, will go to air for the first time today and screen during the children television hour.

"Road trauma continues to pose a significant risk to young children. The road traffic system is the most dangerous environment children will encounter on a daily basis," Mr Lenders said.

"In the last five years, 32 children under the age of six were killed on Victorian roads.

"We hope to avoid the heartbreak this causes by encouraging parents and carers through these television advertisements, to set the best example for young children.

"The Act Safely: Copycats are watching you campaign aims to targets not only pre-school aged children, but their parents as well, because research shows that children, even those as young as six months, copy their parents – including parents attitude to road safety."

On average, about 80 children under the age of six are seriously injured and more than 300 sustain minor injuries on Victorian roads every year.

Mr Lenders said US research found a clear link between the driving behaviour of parents their children. "The study found that young adults whose parents had three or more traffic offences were much more likely to offend themselves, than those whose parents had none," Mr Lenders said.

"Parents often don't think of themselves as establishing the pattern for their children's driving or pedestrian behaviour but in fact children observe, absorb and repeat their parent's behaviour."

The VicRoads Starting Out Safely preschool education program was launched in 2003 by the Bracks Government to provide resources to parents, educators and local councils about early childhood road safety.

The road toll currently stands at 36, up from 33 at the same time last year (an increase of 9%).