Road Safety Week in the north: Do you remember fun visits from emergency services to your school?

By Susy Macaulay

November 10 2022, 11:45 am

Zac the Zebra helps Cults primary children learn road safety in 2012. Image: Richard Frew

Road safety week starts on Monday November 14 and has always had youngsters in its sights, aiming to make learning how to be safe on the roads fun and memorable.

Do you remember those visits from the police and welcome breaks from the classroom to learn road safety?

A trawl through the DC Thomson archives shows how much children enjoyed the day.

Were you one of them?

Vroom vroom

What could be better than a go on a police motorcycle?

P1 pupil Steven Munro from Braeside Infant school in Aberdeen opens throttle on a motorcycle brought to the school by Constable Gordon Merchant of Grampian police in 1990.

Safety swingers

In 1984 Mile End Primary School was chosen for the launch of Aberdeen Junior Chamber’s Caring for Children week in which hundreds of children received a pair of reflectors for the dark winter days, called Safety Swingers.

AJC president Colin Watts (centre) is pictured after presenting the first batch. The reflectors were eventually distributed to all Aberdeen primary 1 to 3 pupils.

Have you still got yours?

Their cost, more than £3500, was met by Charles Alexander & Partners (Transport), Britoil, B.P. Petroleum Development, Chevron, Dresser Magcobar Group, William Hay & Sons (Aberdeen), UDI Group, Kennerty Farm Dairies, Marathon Oil UK, New-Mar Oil Services, Tower Garage and John Wood Group.

And wearing a real policeman’s cap and directing traffic was a great thrill.

Here Kevin McDonald demonstrates his road safety skills under the watchful eyes of PC Ian Normington, Elizabeth Brown and Michael Munro at Broomhill School, Aberdeen.

The school staged a special week in 1988 when Grampian Police’s accident prevention unit involved the whole school in five days of intensive safety teaching.

Demonstrations

Experts from the police, fire brigade, coastguard service and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution visited to give talks, show films, and stage demonstrations of their skills.

These included a rescue and water safety demonstration on the River Dee opposite the Ruthrieston Annexe.

Newtonhill Primary School pupils gather round for an illustrated talk by members of Grampian Police road safety unit in 1985.

The safety week campaign that year was organised by Bill Duncan (far left), accident prevention officer for Kincardine and Deeside and included talks, film shows and demonstrations by Grampian Fire Brigade, Health Board, Coastguard, RNLI and British Airways helicopters.

Highlight

Getting to drive a cute wee vehicle was a highlight for these pupils at Banchory Primary school in 1979.

Grampian Police Road Safety Unit Constable Neil Lawrie visited the school under the sponsorship of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Quite often, someone in an animal suit is drafted in to make a point or two.

In 2012, Cults Primary children formed a walking bus as part of their road safety week, with the help of Zac the Zebra.

Pictured from left are Sophie Bain, 5, Kirsten Maclure, 5, Liam Fretwell, 6, Ella Maclure, 7, Lauren Fretwell, 9 and Yasmin Parsa, 9 with Zac the Zebra.

Very often badges were involved

In 2005, pupils at 18 schools in Moray were encouraged to stand their own two feet and take walk to school this week.

There was a badge in it—did you get one and have you still got it?

Pictured here from St Sylvester’s primary in Elgin are 7-year-old Paula Clark on the left and Khodi Anderson, 7, showing off their badges with Junior Road Safety Officers Darren Margach, 11, and Alice Cruickshank, 10.

More graphic

Things got more graphic for young drivers.

In 2012, Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue service gave a demonstration of removing a casualty from a car accident as part of that year’s Road Safety Week.

Watching the demonstration were young driver students from Inverness College.