ROAD safety chiefs have been asked to investigate a programme of road safety education for young children through to older teenagers.

The move, one of a range of measures, follows a successful motion put to the full meeting of Gloucestershire County Council by the ReformUK councillor for Coleford Cllr Leigh Challis.

The motion received cross-party support although the Greens said it was not precise enough on what and how it wanted to achieve.

Cllr Challis said: “If we want safer roads, we must start at the beginning, teaching good habits, early and reinforcing them all the way through to teenagers, when young people start to drive.

“It means they arrive at the wheel already thinking about safety, not just the highway code, but everything they've absorbed through mascots, stories, and age appropriate education over the years.

“By the time they get their provisional license, those habits are instinct.

“With so much emphasis on rolling out 20 mile an hour zones, it feels like we are tackling the issue from the wrong end.

“Enforcement has its place, but education is what actually changes behaviour.

This is a unified lifelong programme starting in early years and continuing right through to young adulthood.

It will do far more for safety than signage alone and involving children designing the mascots, gives them pride, ownership, and better attention.

“This is about building safer children, who grow into safe, safer drivers.”

Seconding the motion, Cllr Vernon Gray (ReformUK, Tuffley) said he recognised the excellent work already done by initiatives such as SkillZone and Bikeability.

He added: “Children growing up in Gloucestershire face unique challenges.

“This motion is not about replacing existing programmes.

“It is about exploring how we can build on them with a consistent pathway from early years, right through to young adulthood.”

Cllr Beki Hoyland (Green, Blakeney and Bream) said she welcomed more road safety education but the emphasis should be on drivers.

She said: “This motion is putting the responsibility for being hit onto a child, rather than onto the driver, who has, hopefully, a fully formed adult brain, and is, or should be, in control of a fast moving ton of metal on our highways.”

Cllr Chris McFarling (Green, Sedbury), said while he understood the intention of the motion, he was not convinced it was the best use of council resources.

He said: “The motion asks Cabinet to explore a county-wide pathway, spanning early years through to post 16 education, launch a schools competition, develop age specific mascots, produce printed and digital materials, engage schools across the county, and publish any reports.

“This motion sets out a very broad and ambitious programme.

“A challenge is that the motion does not clearly demonstrate how these activities would deliver measurable improvements in road safety.”

Cllr Lisa Spivey, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group which runs the council said they supported the motion.

She added: “It shows that here in Gloucestershire we can work together for the betterment of our residents.”