Puppets get the road-safety message across

Routes – a highway code for youngsters – has been developed by Steve Wright from the Puppet Broadcasting Centre, working with Calderdale Road Safety Team and the Safer Roads Group. It is being rolled out in secondary schools across the district – starting with Halifax High – and includes live roadshows, presentations, films and workshop training, supported by its own website and Facebook page.

Central to the code is Bez, a teenage puppet who, along with other puppet characters, try to get road safety messages across.

David Short, Calderdale’s road safety project officer and chair of the Safer Roads Group, said: “Routes is at the cutting edge of road-safety education, providing an exciting road safety resource for young teenagers.

“During 2010 there were 32 road casualties under the age of 15, and 14 of these were seriously injured.”

David Horsfall, head of personal development at Halifax High School said, “As a teacher and a parent I realise we can’t wrap our pupils and children in cotton wool so we need to give them the chance to develop their own risk assessment skills and become more independent.”

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