Knowing the rules makes us safer

Education and information; these are the keys to this project. For schoolchildren who move around on foot or for youngsters who ride their bikes every day, knowing road signs and how to behave on the roads are factors that can make a big difference in a risky situation.

This project starts from the base line: knowing the meaning of traffic signs. Only by knowing the rules, we can comply with them. In order to familiarize children in 3rd and 4th grades of primary education with traffic regulations from childhood, the prestigious Deutsche Verkehrswacht (DVW) has been carrying out the project “Road safety through knowledge of regulations”, a program that wants to take road safety education to schools the through more than 570 “Youth Traffic Schools” (JVS) that exist in Germany, training students in theory but also preparing them for reality, through bike driving tests conducted by traffic officers who work with young students as volunteers.

If all schoolchildren completed the bicycle safety training in fourth grade, and if 80% of schools offered this training, it would contribute to half a million pupils a year moving around more safely.

Given that some of the schools lack the necessary material to offer this training, at Fundación MAPFRE we have committed ourselves to support the project since 2019 contributing with more than 1,000 road signs that are being supplied to the JVS. These signs will enable the continuity and sustainability of the project over time, thus contributing to several generations of young Germans behaving safely and responsibly on public roads.