Army of road safety recruits grows
Published Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Some of the most important recruits in the council's drive to promote road safety have been finding out about their new jobs.
Junior Road Safety Officers (JRSOs) are pupils who have demonstrated a keen interest in raising awareness of road safety issues at their school.
Each school usually has two officers from either primary six or seven who have been interviewed or specially selected for the job.
This year 118 schools are taking part in the JRSO scheme with 102 schools attending a special information session organised by the council's Road Safety Education, Training and Publicity Team at Chatelherault Country Park.
More than 300 pupils were shown a YouTube film and told all about their role and the skills they will need as part of the scheme which links in to the "Curriculum for Excellence" for schools.
The main duties of a JRSO are:
- Maintaining a notice board
- Running competitions
- Highlighting road safety campaigns
- Speaking at assembly
Each JRSO was provided with a pack containing an activity book, year planner, pen and a lapel badge. Additional information and resources were provided to support them in their role.
The Road Safety Team also came up with a number of activities on the day, such as a traffic trail, road safety game as well as ideas and information about what should be displayed on notice boards in the schools.
Representatives from Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, Cycling Scotland and transport and logistics company Norbert Dentressangle were all in attendance.
Councillor Graham Simpson, the chair of the council's Road Safety Forum, said: "I am delighted that we have so many Junior Road Safety Officers in place across South Lanarkshire.
"Most schools should have a junior road safety officer now and if not it's easy for them to nominate someone.
"It was great to see how enthusiastic the young people were about their new roles and I am sure they are keen to share their knowledge with their fellow pupils.
"I hope that by giving young people a passion for road safety at an early age we are providing them with knowledge that will last them all their lives.
"I would like to thank our partners who turned up on the day and helped make the event such a success.
"The pupils loved being able to sit in the police car especially when they had the chance to give the sirens a blast!
"They also seemed to really enjoy being in the cab of the HGV and this allowed them to appreciate how difficult it can be to see pedestrians from such large vehicles."
