Dubbo Regional Council and the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation have joined hands to promote child pedestrian safety around parks and recreation areas.
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Council staff have now installed 12 colourful Hold My Hand signs which are an initiative of the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation.
The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation works tirelessly on child pedestrian road safety initiatives with the Australian Government and Corporate organisations to target educational campaigns and projects for children and their families.
Dubbo Regional Council’s Road Safety Officer Jayne Bleechmore said children were among the most vulnerable group within the road environment.
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“Children are hard to see and behave unpredictably making it challenging for drivers in the vicinity of such areas.
“Whether near the road, on the footpath, in car parks or around schools and parks, children, particularly 10 years and younger, need to hold hands with an adult,” Ms Bleechmore said.
The Hold My Hand campaign specifically focuses on child pedestrian road safety to prevent the tragic loss of young lives due to road trauma.
“The impact of child loss has a deep effect, directly for families and in their communities and such tragic incidences are not easily forgotten,” Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation CEO, Michelle McLaughlin said.
“The foundation is delighted to collaborate with Dubbo Regional Council in an effort to keep Australian children safe,” Ms McLaughlin said.
The joint park signage campaign highlights the need for adults to remember to hold hands with children when they are near traffic.
The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation was established by the McLaughlin family in 2014 following the tragic loss of their four-year-old son Tom in a pedestrian accident on the Central Coast.
The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation is a voice for children, highlighted by Tom’s message “Slow down; kids around.”
The work of the foundation is Tom's legacy and a single life saved through education and awareness raised in his name is an objective the organisation is proud to strive for.
The foundation aims to educate parents and carers of the potential dangers in their children’s “out of normal environment” interactions, which most often occur in holiday times.
The group also undertakes research to improve our understanding of the cognitive limitations and learning habits of young children in order to develop appropriate literature for effective road safety learning and facilitates support services for families and loved ones who have lost a child in sudden and tragic circumstances.