By Victory Bernard
Kevron Group Limited has urged parents to teach children about vehicle blind spots, stressing that children need to understand that seeing a vehicle does not necessarily mean the driver can see them.
The call was contained in a lecture delivered by the company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Dr. Kayode Fowode, at Child Safety 3.0, organised by SafeKids Foundation.
Fowode said children are particularly vulnerable around vehicles because they are not at the same height as cars and may not understand the limitations of a driver’s visibility.
“These children are not at the same height as cars, and most of these children don’t understand that cars have blind spots,” Fowode said.
Fowode, who was represented by a staff member of Kevron Group Limited, explained that a child could see an approaching vehicle and assume that the driver had also seen them, without understanding the limitations of the driver’s view.
“The child might think that it’s a car coming. The driver should see me, but there are blind spots attached to cars as well,” he said.
He called on parents to deliberately equip children with practical knowledge about the dangers they may encounter around vehicles and on the road.
“We as parents have the chance to impact the knowledge of these children. We need to let the children understand some of the dangers around these vehicles,” Fowode said.
According to him, children may not understand road risks in the same way adults do, making deliberate safety education important.
“They don’t see or understand the risk the way we as adults understand. So they need to educate children about this. This is very vital.”
Fowode also outlined a four-step road-crossing rule for parents to teach children: Stop, Look, Listen and Think.
“There are four steps to this rule. The first one is to stop. The second one is to look. The third one is to listen. And lastly, to think,” he said.
He explained that children should stop at the edge of the road, look carefully in both directions and check again before crossing.
“You look left. You look right. You look left again before you cross the road,” Fowode said.
He added that children should listen for sounds, including horns and approaching vehicles, before deciding whether it is safe to cross.
“Let them understand that they need to listen for noise, for horns,” he said.
Fowode said the final step is to think carefully before crossing and determine whether it is the right time to proceed.
“They should think if it is the right time to cross,” he said.
He stressed that adults have a responsibility to ensure children receive practical road-safety knowledge.
“We as adults need to impact the knowledge of road safety into our kids,” Fowode said.
He also urged adults to help children understand that roads are not playgrounds and to recognise the hazards associated with road environments.
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