‘Elmo stays safe’ – road and driveway safety education campaign

Road and driveway run over incidents are a major cause of injury and death for children. Approximately 93 Australian children (aged 0-16) die as a result of an injury sustained on the road and a further 7,000 (0-14 years) are admitted to hospital with serious injuries every year. Driveway run over incidents account for an average of 7 deaths and 60 are serious injuries (0-14 years) every year.
The ‘Elmo Stays Safe’ campaign was developed by Kidsafe Victoria in collaboration with Sesame Workshop (the not for profit educational organisation behind Sesame Street), the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV).
The campaign was conducted in two phases; Phase 1 focused on ‘safe places to play’ as the key message. Phase 2 of the campaign, focusing on driveway and road safety, conveyed critical messages to children, their families and the public in order to:
· Raise public and parental awareness of the importance of children playing in safe areas.
· Promote safe driveway practices to the Victorian public, and;
· Raise children’s awareness of the dangers posed by vehicles in car parks, roads and driveways by utilising a popular international character to demonstrate this.
These messages were delivered utilising a range of resources including a radio CSA and an activity based app for children.
The ‘Elmo Stays Safe’ campaign contributes to the international effort to reduce child injury and death as part of the UN Global Decade of Action for Road Safety. The paper will discuss all phases of this campaign and the development process used to engages with families, children and the broader community.