Children urged to remember their “tap-straps”

Vredestein, the Dutch tyre maker, is backing the UK government’s campaign to reduce child road deaths and injuries with a simple yet practical road safety initiative targeted, to begin with, at four schools in the UK. The programme will provide 7 and 9 years olds with luminous arm straps to help enhance visibility on their way to and from school during winter months.

The so called “tap-straps” being provided by Vredestein, a company that has a safety culture, are fun for children to put on their arms and makes them more visible to motorists and other road users. Initially the company will provide tap straps to 7 and 9 year olds at Hall Meadow Primary School in Kettering, Brinsley Primary School in Nottingham, Briar Hill School in Northampton and Thomas Jolyffe School in Stratford upon Avon. It is anticipated that the company will roll out the initiative at other schools.

Vredestein is a major supporter of TyreSafe, the UK’s leading tyre safety organisation, and the school’s safety campaign will break new ground in that it will outline the danger of skidding, often as a result of bald or badly worn tyres, in vehicle accidents which cause injury to pedestrians and in many cases children. “Over 20% of cars on the road in the UK have at least one tyre that is either illegal or badly worn and in need of replacement”, said Stuart Jackson, managing director of Vredestein in the UK. “Many accidents, particularly in the wet are due to cars skidding and so this campaign, which we hope will link to other local road safety initiatives, will provide information on basic tyre safety to help children influence parents in the area of tyre safety”.

The first school to receive the tap straps is the Hall Meadow Primary School in Kettering, headteacher Miss Lorraine Cullen is very supportive of the initiative. “This supports our own safe route to school programme. We rely heavily on our local community to drive safely in the vicinity of the school and for our parents to park sensibly, but we recognise that children run risks when walking to and from school particularly during the winter months. We are very grateful to Vredestein for coming up with what is a very simple yet effective method of making our children more visible to drivers and other road users”.