On 11 September, 8,630 first graders in Upper Franconia set off for the first time on their way to school. Many people make sure that nothing happens to them.
At the beginning of school, Sparkasse equips all first-graders with neon yellow, reflective vests. So that no child, no matter what age, on the way to school something happens, committed each year many people volunteer as a school mate. But the police and the traffic control Fichtelgebirge are worried: In the school year 2017/2018 were about 100 school helpers less (740) than in the school year before (830) on the streets of Upper Franconia to help the little ones in dangerous places on the road.
How fast something can happen was shown last year. Two children were injured on their way to school, reports Wolfgang, responsible for traffic of the police inspection Wunsiedel. A 13-year-old middle school student and an eleven-year-old student were overlooked by motorists. In the school year before, three accidents involving slightly injured children occurred in Wunsiedel. In Bavaria, four schoolchildren have already died in 2018.
This means: The police and traffic surveillance work do not end with the first graders. Even students who are already attending the secondary school are not protected against accidents. "In 69 percent of school-time accidents in Bavaria from January to March 2018, the students were between eleven and 14 years old," says Hubert of the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior. "The paths are usually on, the school days longer, the children are tired and careless," said the first police chief commissioner possible reasons for the quota.
Therefore parents should definitely use the last days of their holidays to choose the safest way to school: "Often a small detour is worthwhile if traffic light or routes managed by school students can be used," says Hubert. On most homepages of schools, there are school maps and the police or the traffic guard help parents to find the best way. "The shortest way is not always the safest."
Parents should also train the way to school before the beginning of the school year with their children. "Preferably at the same time the child is on the road every day," advises Hubert. In dangerous places, they should have their protégés suggest solutions and behaviors, and make sure that the child always stops at the curb and seeks eye contact with drivers before crossing the street. Being a good role model is still the biggest learning experience.
It is also important to send the little ones in time for school and choose the clothes so that they are well seen especially in the dark winter months. "After a week or two, unfortunately, you hardly ever see a child wearing a high visibility vest with reflective materials, and you want to wear it every day," says Hubert.
The elementary school made a small competition in the past school year, reports Vice-President Silke. "The first class to wear their light trapezoids the longest should get a reward." In the end everybody would have gone so well that each child got a little something.
Again and again, the schools and the police point to the problems with parent taxis. The cars park in the second and third row to let the children get off. Students scurry between the cars and are endangered.
Children should only come to school by bicycle after they have passed the fourth grade bicycle test. The same applies to scooters and inline skates. "Even if a child drives well, it makes a difference, whether it is on dirt roads and meadows or in traffic," warns the second mayor of the city, Horst scourge.
Girls and boys react spontaneously, have a limited field of vision and often do not know the traffic rules. And Hubert emphasizes: Many children would not know at this age, for example, a blind spot. "But a blind spot does not forgive ignorance."
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