LH deputy Landbauer/LR Teschl-Hofmeister: The safety of our children is our top priority
St. Pölten (OTS) – LH deputy Udo Landbauer and state councilor Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister, accompanied by commercial councilor Peter Engelbrechtsmüller (AUVA), recently personally convinced themselves of the effect of the AUVA’s nationwide traffic safety initiative “CoPilotenTraining”. The “CAPtains” – employees of CAP-Kindersicherheit GmbH who were specially trained for this project – showed how children are made aware of dangers and how safety-oriented behavior is learned in a playful way.
“The protection and safety of our children is our top priority – this is especially true in road traffic. We focus on prevention so that our youngest children are always safe on the move and use this measure to specifically support parents and grandparents. The AUVA CoPilot training starts exactly where it is most effective, namely directly with the children. In addition to the “Walk to School” road safety initiative, the focus here is on safety in the car. Our aim is not to play one against the other, but rather to promote the greatest possible safety everywhere,” informs LH deputy Landbauer.
Teschl-Hofmeister also praises the AUVA CoPilot Training as a “showcase project” in terms of traffic education. “The safety of our children must be the top priority. The co-pilot training makes a significant contribution to increasing safety. Statistically, children face the greatest danger on roads where they feel safest, in the car,” said the state councilor.
Thanks to the additional support from the state of Lower Austria, a total of 5,600 children at 56 Lower Austrian schools can take part in the campaign. Among other things, VS Krems-Lerchenfeld (Judenburger Straße 21) was selected this year to take part in the nationwide traffic safety initiative.
AUVA regional office chairman Peter Engelbrechtsmüller explains: “Students at AUVA are legally insured against accidents that are causally related to their training. This also includes accidents on the way to or from school. The AUVA devotes a lot of energy to preventing these often serious accidents through traffic education measures. We therefore welcome the fact that the CoPilot training initiated by AUVA is so well received by schools and actively promoted by transport and education policy.”
According to accident statistics, cars are the most dangerous place on the road for children. Relatively fewer children are harmed on foot or by bike. The top priority must therefore be to always travel properly secured in the car. As part of the “AUVA CoPilot Training”, a CAPtain (trainer) visits the school on site. In an experiential educational setting, young and old learn why the correct and consistent use of child restraint systems is so important on even the shortest journey, how children can travel with the best possible protection and who is responsible for safety. Nationwide, the traffic education measure reaches around 25,000 elementary school children as well as their parents and teachers each season.
As part of the “1, 2 or 3 game” during the AUVA CoPilot training, the children are asked 14 exciting questions about the topic of “child safety in the car”. “It’s about, for example, how often mom or dad buckle up, or what a seat cushion is actually good for,” explains Peter Jahn, “director” of the program. The schools receive the results of the playful survey promptly after the event and can be passed on to parents as support. According to this, 25 percent of the children who took part in the AUVA CoPilot Training 2022/23 stated that they were “not always” wearing a seatbelt when traveling in the car.
Detailed information about the program can be found at www.copilotentraining.info
Further information: Alexander Murlasits, Head of Press and Public Relations, LH Deputy Office. Udo Landbauer, mobile phone +43 676 812 13742, email alexander.murlasits@noel.gv.at
Questions & Contact:
Office of the Lower Austrian State Government
State Office Directorate/Public Relations
Doris Zöger
02742/9005-13314
presse@noel.gv.at
www.noe.gv.at/presse