Arriva has launched a Stop and Stay campaign to highlight the dangers of crossing the road in front of or behind a bus.
The operator has produced a booklet for schools, on-bus posters and videos aimed at children and parents and also decided to release CCTV footage of a child being hit by a hit after getting off a bus.
The idea came from Matthew Mort, Arriva’s risk manager based in Merseyside, who is attending schools to promote pedestrian safety. He says: “One of our key values at Arriva is about doing the right thing and this is exactly what this campaign is all about.
“We take our responsibility both as a transport operator and as a key part of the community really seriously – we care passionately about our passengers, drivers and other road-users and we want to make sure everyone is safe.
“Our drivers are on the roads day in and day out and sadly they witness these horrible incidents, which can result in serious injury or death and we simply don’t want this.
“Collisions like this are often avoidable, which is why I came up with the idea. I hope our simple message: stop and stay – cross the road in a safe way – lands with our passengers and especially children and we can make a positive difference to road safety. The campaign doesn’t end with school visits – we’ve got plans to roll this out at key times across the year and I hope it will run and run.”
