(haipo) 434 children aged 5–14 were injured in road accidents in Haifa in the decade between 2016 and 2025. Two of them were killed and 42 were seriously injured. In light of the data, the Or Yarok association is running a new educational program, in collaboration with the Frisbee company, which aims to increase children's awareness of the dangers on the road and provide them with tools for safe behavior in public spaces.
Learning safety through play and experience
As part of the program, instructors from the Or Yarok Association come to elementary schools across the country and hold activity days for students in grades 1-4. Stations are set up in the school yard where safety content is conveyed through games, experiments, and competitive challenges.
One of the main activities is a dedicated cycling track, which simulates situations that children may encounter on the road. Students experience scenarios that simulate what happens on the road, including encounters with pedestrians, distraction caused by using a cell phone while driving, and encounters with police officers during an enforcement activity.
Seatbelt, road crossing and helmet
The activity deals with some of the key rules for maintaining road safety: safe driving in the family car and the importance of wearing seat belts, crossing the road safely, and riding bicycles and scooters correctly while using the appropriate protective equipment, primarily a helmet.
The goal of the experiment is to make safety rules accessible to children in an experiential way, which will help them understand how to drive responsibly and avoid dangerous situations.
Children become safety advocates at home too
The uniqueness of the program lies in its attempt to expand its impact beyond the students themselves. The children are asked to take an active part in maintaining road safety among their parents and family members, and to serve as a reminder for them of the important rules before and during the trip.
At the end of the activity, the students receive a certificate that qualifies them to serve as chaperones and safety confidants for their parents. The certificate includes the main safety rules that they can review with the drivers before and during a family trip.
The Or Yarok Association seeks through the program to create a young generation that knows the safety rules, implements them themselves, and encourages those around them to follow them.
"If we were able to prevent harm to a child, the investment was worth it"
Attorney Yaniv Yaakov, CEO of the Or Yarok Association, says that instilling safety habits at a young age can have a long-term impact.
"Our children are the most precious thing to us. The more we instill in them the values of road safety at a young age, the more we will be able to reap the fruits of the investment at an older age and protect their lives. The more children we reach, the more we will be able to spread the values of safety," said Yaakov.
According to him, the association seeks to harness the children to influence their immediate environment as well: "With the help of our partners, we want to recruit and turn them into road safety advocates who influence those around them. If we were able to prevent a child from being harmed as a result of the activity, we would have benefited and the entire investment would have been worth it."
The Haifa Municipality, in collaboration with the Or Yarok Association, is working to raise awareness of road safety throughout the year in various educational settings. The new program joins efforts to instill safe behavioral habits among children and reduce their injuries on the roads.
Will the kids tell their parents to stop parking on the sidewalk outside schools?
Every morning outside schools, parents load their vehicles onto the sidewalk and endanger our children in the name of "parking shortages" and other nonsense.