Ready for the holidays: TCS launches Whatsapp warning system for the start of school
12.8.2023
Translation: machine translated
Shortly before school starts in Switzerland, the TCS is introducing a new service: "Safe2School" is a WhatsApp warning system designed to generate increased attention in traffic.
Twelve cantons start back to school on Monday. Hand on heart: do you know if your canton is among them? If you don't have school-age children yourself, you're unlikely to have a clue. This is exactly where the new TCS prevention campaign comes in: as a reminder and warning system for road users. "Safe2School Alert" informs you via WhatsApp at the end of the holidays in the respective canton that there are more children on the road again.
According to a press release issued by the TCS on Thursday, many people forget this, especially after the summer holidays. "Drivers may therefore be less willing to react when they encounter a child." The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness among road users and motivate them to drive carefully and obey the rules, especially in the vicinity of schools.
How to activate the service
You can subscribe to "Safe2School Alert" via QR code. You will automatically be taken to a WhatsApp conversation where you can activate the new service and enter your desired language and postcode. You will then receive a message at the end of each school year's holiday period. The service is available for all cantons. Further information and activation options can be found on the TCS website.
Source: TCS
Accidents on the way to school with physical injuries
According to TCS, statistics show a general decrease in road accidents since 1992, but the figures are on the rise again after a brief decline during the coronavirus pandemic. Particularly alarming: according to statistics from the Federal Roads Office (Astra), 515 of the 593 accidents on the way to and from school reported in 2022 involved physical injury. Specifically, there were two fatalities, 73 serious injuries and 494 minor injuries.
As part of the prevention campaign, the TCS is also emphasising the importance of the journey to school for children's development. It promotes socialisation, interaction with the environment and informal learning. "Travelling to school on foot, by bike or on a scooter promotes children's road safety skills and helps them to pay more attention in class than they would if they were taken to school by car."
The TCS emphasises the importance of the school journey.
Four tips for car drivers
Often, however, road users are unaware of the rules when dealing with schoolchildren. Did you know, for example, that you should not signal to your child that they can cross the road? Find out why in the following tips.
- Come to a complete stop: Children cannot judge speed correctly and learn in kindergarten and school to wait until the wheels of the car have come to a complete stop before crossing the road. If you brake but continue to roll slowly, you confuse the children and risk them making a mistake.
- Don't give hand signals: Not even to show that they can cross the road. It attracts the child's attention and can put them at risk from other road users to whom they are not paying attention.
- Keep your distance: If children are travelling on a road without a pavement, keep enough distance so that they feel safer. Also so that accidents due to sudden swerving can be avoided.
- Watch out in 20 and 30 km/h zones: Children are not very familiar with the different right-of-way rules in these two zones.
Katja Fischer
Senior Editor
Katja.Fischer@digitecgalaxus.chMom of Anna and Elsa, aperitif expert, group fitness fanatic, aspiring dancer and gossip lover. Often a multitasker and a person who wants it all, sometimes a chocolate chef and queen of the couch.
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