Teaching Road Safety to Kids

When children and adolescents in Denmark receive traffic education, it is very likely that the educational material is designed by Workz. In 2010 Workz and Rådet for Sikker Trafik (the Danish Road Safety Council) entered into a strategic partnership, and since then we have developed eight digital learning materials, collectively targeting all elementary and middle school grade level.

In recent years, the council has moved away from traditional publishing and the distribution and sales challenges that this form of publishing entails. The goal is to make all traffic education freely available in digital, interactive formats. Workz has assisted in this endeavour to modernise and digitalise the council’s library of educational materials.

Workz has assisted in the creation of materials for all grades of elementary and middle school. – For the youngest pupils (aged 6 to 8) the interactive picture book “Albert & Rose” teaches the basic traffic rules for pedestrians. We also assisted in the design of “Gåprøven” (The Pedestrian Test), which is the practical traffic rules test for young school children. These materials have quickly become a great success and were used by more than 33,000 pupils in the school year 2014/15.

“Workz has contributed to the development of the educational materials Cyklistprøven, 360° and Skillevej with great expertise, dedication and ingenuity, from early concept to final delivery of the educational materials. Rådet for Sikker Trafik will continue working with Workz as a strategic partner in the future” says Christian Engel Brund, Paedagogical Editor, The Danish Road Safety Council.

“Den lille cyklistprøve” (The Little Cyclist Test) for school pupils 6 to 8 years of age and “Cyklistprøven” (The Cycling Test) for the 9 to 12-year-olds are the traditional cornerstones of traffic education in the Danish elementary and middle school. Workz updated the tests and assisted in the creation of interactive teaching materials supporting the tests.

More than 30,000 pupils take “Cyklistprøven” each year. In 2014 these tests were expanded with the experimental “Testpiloter” (Test pilots) material, where the pupils test how the bicycle holds up against microscooter, skateboard and roller skates in a series of practical tests.

For the eldest pupils, the council has launched three new materials that bring the reality behind traffic accidents into the classroom.

The interactive documentary “360°” lets the pupils navigate and explore witness statements and documents from a real accident. The main character is the 14-year-old Lasse who lost one of his legs in an accident, where he and his two friends drove a tuned scooter. Workz developed concept, materials and recorded and produced all video.

In the storytelling game “Skillevej” (Crossroads) the pupils tell the stories of five different accidents. They create the main characters and define the social dynamics that enable risk-taking behaviour in traffic. In that process, they reflect on how they themselves might act in a similar situation.

Finally, “Talknuser” (Number Crusher) challenges the pupils with finding correlations in a comprehensive statistic material concerning accidents in Denmark, in order to come up with innovative suggestions for improving traffic safety.