Road safety. Road signs. Road safety.

Every year several thousand people are killed on the roads in Great Britain. Every year between one and two hundred thousand people are injured. These people are killed or injured in road accidents.

If you are in Great Britain and if you listen to the eight o'clock news from the BBC, you will often hear news of road accidents. You may hear something like this:

On Monday evening last, at about twenty minutes to ten, a cyclist was knocked down by a motor-van at the junction of Oak road and High Street in Croydon, Surrey. The cyclist has since died from his injuries. Will anyone who saw the accident please communicate with New Scotland Yard, telephone number Whitehall one, two, one, two.

Accidents are often caused by carelessness. There are rules that help to make the roads safe, but people don't always obey the rules. They are careless. If everybody obeys the rules, the roads will be much safer. How can we make the roads safer?

In Great Britain traffic keeps to the left. Motor-cars, motor-vans, buses and cyclists must all keep to the left side of the road. In most other countries traffic keeps to the right.

Before crossing the road, stop and look both ways. Look right, look left, look right again. Then, if you are sure that the road is clear, that there is nothing coming, it is safe to cross the road. If you see small children, or very old people, or blind people, waiting to cross the road, it is a kind act to help them to cross the road in safety.

We must teach young children to cross the road safely. We must always give them a good example. Small children ought not to play in the streets.

There are many things that motorists can do to make the roads safe. They must take care at cross-roads and bends. They must drive slowly when turning into another road.

A motorist must not try to drive if he is tired or ill. A man who drives after drinking a lot of beer or wine is usually a dangerous driver. His own life, and the lives of others, may be in danger.

Road signs.

Number one is a sign with the number thirty on it. When drivers see this sign they must not go at more than thirty miles an hour. We see this sign when we get to parts of the country where there are many houses and other buildings, for example, when we are getting near a town. Thirty miles an hour is the speed limit.

Number two is the sign for the end of the speed limit. We are out the town now and may go at more than thirty miles an hour.

Number three is a sign that we are near a crossroads, that is a place where two roads cross. We must drive carefully.

Number four is a sign that there is a bend in the road. Again, we must drive slowly and carefully. It is not safe to go round a bend at a high speed. It is usually safe to drive at a high speed on a straight road if there are not many other cars, but when we come to a bend, we must drive slowly.

Number five is a sign that there is another road coming in from the right. The road joins our road; there is a road junction at this place.

Number six is a sign that there is a hill and number seven is a sign that the road gets narrow. Drivers must go slowly and carefully.

Number eight shows us a gate. There is a level crossing. This is a place where a railway crosses the road. The road and the railway are at the same level. There is no bridge. A level crossing is a dangerous place. Careful drivers stop or go very slowly. Is the gate across the road open or shut? Is there a train coming?

Number nine has the word School on it. This is a sign that there is a school at the side of the street or road. Perhaps there are children going to school or leaving school. So drivers must look carefully and go slowly until they are past the school building.

Number ten is a sign with the letter P on it. The letter P is for 'Parking'. A parking-place is a place where drivers may leave their cars. If the driver of a car wants to leave his car and go to the shops, he looks for this sign. Then he knows that he may leave his car there. At some places there are the signs "No parking" or "No waiting". When a driver sees the sign "No parking", he knows that he must not leave his car at this place. If he leaves his car near one of these signs, a policeman may come and write down the number of the car.