Safety Circles is a project to help people with learning disabilities and/or autism to be safer on the roads or walking. We will be doing this by making lots of accessible resources for people to use, sharing our resources widely with people and also by training people in small groups to be safer.
The most recent addition to these resources is our newly produced animation about road safety.
Being seen by car drivers and other pedestrians at night is so important to help save lives and prevent accidents. Laura Connell (Rotherham Safety Partnership), Darren Walmsley (Speakup) and Michael Allott (Speakup) have been taking part in a film to show the important things people need to check on their bike to be safe.
Darren and Michael worked with Laura in the film to highlight the important things to check. This includes things like having good working lights, reflectors, working brakes, good tyres which are pumped up as well as wearing a helmet and bright or reflective clothing.
There is very little information and training available to people with learning disabilities and/or autism which is accessible and which tells them about Road Safety and Personal Safety. People with learning disabilities and/or autism need accessible information and training to help them understand how to be safe when out and about. Thanks to the second round of funding from the South Yorkshire Fire Stronger Safer Communities Reserve, we have been able to begin delivering a second groundbreaking project to produce accessible resources through Road Safety Champions who will be out in the community teaching other people about road safety and personal safety.
This project will help more people learn about personal safety by making information accessible and produce a DVD to help people to become safer and feel more able and confident to go out .
Our Road Safety Champions will be out into the community and teaching people about Road Safety, and we will be working hard delivering training and producing information to help people with learning disabilities and/or autism to understand things like:
• Planning your route before you set out. Avoiding peak road times
• Looking out for yourself. Being aware of what is going on around you
• Always staying on the pavements if there is one provided and using cycle lanes if on a bike
• Avoiding crossing on blind corners and between parked cars
• Using Pedestrian crossings when available
• Check the driver has seen you before deciding to cross the road on foot or turn when on a bike
• Taking extra care when crossing the road when under the influence of alcohol
• Use of MP3 players and mobile phones – not a good idea when walking or cycling
• Being aware of traffic pulling in and out of car parks and car park spaces, paying particular attention to reversing cars
• If you are walking after dark wear something bright or reflective
• Making sure you wear a seatbelt in a taxi – don’t wait for the driver to tell you, it is your responsibility!
• Being safe on a bus, waiting until the bus stops before you get up
• Watching out for emergency vehicles travelling fast (we know this is an issue for people with learning disabilities and/or autism who live on routes near hospitals, police or fire service buildings where emergency vehicles regularly travel to emergencies).
A lot of people with learning disabilities have either no reading skills or struggle with written information. This project will help people with learning disabilities and/or autism by producing information and training which is accessible to them.
To help you work in small groups to learn about being safe walking, on the bus or in a taxi, we have produced some accessible presentations. You can go through these in groups or one-to-one to help people learn a their own pace and with support.