Be seen and stay safe campaign is launched

The Road Safety Campaign was launched at Cumbernauld Police Office on Monday as part of a partnership with North Lanarkshire Council.

The police-led campaign will see around 4000 flashing armbands being issued to P7 pupils across the local authority area.

The safety initiative comes after police revealed there has been a total of 49 accidents in the North Lanarkshire area involving children up to 15 years old since the start of the year to September.

Most of those incidents were minor but at least seven were described as serious.

Those figures do not include a schoolboy who was knocked down on North Road bridge earlier this month. The News and Chronicle reported on November 7 that the St Maurice’s High School pupil was badly injured sustaining a broken shoulder, elbow and leg in the accident.

Those behind the campaign –which runs alongside the national Road Safety Week, November 19 to 25 – say they are distributing the armbands to P7 pupils because they are at an age when they are likely to get more independence and make their own way to and from school.

Community Safety Officer PC Michael Duffy, of Cumbernauld Police Office, is spearheading the campaign and will be making residents aware of general road safety issues when he hosts a stall at Asda in Cumbernauld town centre on Thursday, November 22, from 11am to 1pm.

PC Duffy is also available to give talks to schools on road safety and any local primaries looking to get the bands for their P7 classes should contact him at Cumbernauld Police Office on 01236 503 900.

The bands can also be picked up from Wishaw, Bellshill and Coatbridge police offices.