School drives home safety message

Myles Ross and his mother Amanda are backing the Riverbank School efforts

An eight-year-old boy who was knocked down by a car is helping his school in Aberdeen teach road safety.

Myles Ross was injured in an accident while on his bike earlier this year.

His Riverbank School secured funding from Aberdeen Safer Community Trust to build a mock road on the playground, where children will learn how to cross.

Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing was visiting on Tuesday. There are also now hopes for a £4m mock safety village in Aberdeen.

Riverbank School has managed to hit home the importance of road safety to pupils in a fun way, where hopefully it will become second nature Emma Bellu Aberdeen Safer Community Trust

The schoolboy's mother, Amanda Ross, said: "Myles is back to his usual self now.

"He was thrown into the air by the force of the impact and later airlifted to Aberdeen. He was very lucky and only suffered scrapes and bruises but he was off school for a while.

"Anything that promotes safety in this way has to be a good thing."

The planned purpose-built village would be aimed at teaching people of all ages about staying safe, as part of the ongoing Risk Ready scheme.

'Go further'

Emma Bellu, chief executive of Aberdeen Safer Community Trust, said: "Riverbank School has managed to hit home the importance of road safety to pupils in a fun way, where hopefully it will become second nature.

"Aberdeen Safer Community Trust aims to go further by bringing whole communities and different generations together at the village.

"For example, older people who may fear youngsters can not only learn about safety in their own home, but discover that by coming into contact with young people, they may feel more comfortable in their company."

She explained: "We aim to get the Scottish government to back the Risk Ready scheme, which will not only benefit the people of the north east, but the whole of Scotland."

Mr Ewing said: "The Scottish Government takes road safety very seriously and is committed to making the roads safer for all users.

"Initiatives such as this road layout in Riverbank School can help educate the pupils about the dangers on our roads in a safe environment and help prevent further accidents such as happened to Myles Ross."