"Wear your helmet" – Tampere basic education encourages young people to stay safe in traffic
In the spring, two-wheelers become more commonplace in traffic, and electric scooters start zooming on the streets. The City of Tampere commissioned an animated video for young people to show how to ride e-scooters safely.
The idea of producing an animated video came from a council initiative received by the City. The proposal was that the City of Tampere could explore the possibility of offering safety information to young people at schools on the manners and practices related to riding two-wheelers safely.
City of Tampere basic education services responded to the initiative by implementing an animation to encourage young people to move safely. Director of Education Ville Raatikainen says that the City wanted to make a video that everyone can share and use easily, for example in teaching or at traffic-themed events.
Local sports clubs were involved as partners: Manse PP, Pyrintö, Ilves and Tappara.
‒ For example, people often use e-scooters to travel to games, so Tampere sports clubs also want to do their part to encourage young people to move safely," Raatikainen says.
Young people themselves were also involved in planning the animated video.
‒ The ninth graders at Lielahti School participated in the planning. They were given different script options to evaluate, of which they selected their favourite that served as the basis for the final version.
Information packages for safe school travel available on the City of Tampere website
Traffic education for children and young people at school is a long-standing tradition. Every autumn, Tampere comprehensive schools celebrate the national Traffic Safety Week organised by the Finnish Road Safety Council. This year, the Traffic Safety Week is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
‒ You can also start traffic education earlier. June, July and August are the most important months for cycling and riding scooters," says Raatikainen.
The City of Tampere website also contains information packages for safe school travel designed for guardians and schools by the Traffic Planning Unit. Everyone can utilise the materials freely.
