We were reminded over the weekend of our collective responsibility to keep our roads safe 7 days a week. A child was hit by a vehicle on Sunday and suffered a broken collarbone. 

While many of our students use footpaths and shared paths to get to school, many routes to school do require some road crossings.

We strongly encourage you to support your child to develop safe habits by:

- teaching them to use the designated crossing points in Lake Hayes and Shotover Country

- ensuring that your child wears their Hi Viz Vest (generously supported by Otago Motor Trust, ABL and NZ Ski this year)

- walk/ride/scoot with your child every now and then to monitor their awareness and check how they are going

The NZTA guideline (it is not a law) is about having the skills to judge distances and speed when crossing a road, so in many cases the same advice can equally apply to pedestrians and children scootering.

It should be added that being an age-based recommendation that some children under 10 years may have these skills already and some over 10 yrs may not be there yet. However, biking and walking with your children to school to see for yourselves if they know where and how to check for traffic, is a good idea to check-in regarding their safety and abilities.