This article describes the operations of the Traffic Education School that Dublin Corporation has run for over 25 years. This school has been dedicated to raising awareness of road safety among children. To convey its message to children aged between 8 and 14, it uses conventional methods, pedal cars, and an outside track with miniature roads, signs, and signals. This approach has impressed safety officers in the European Union (EU) so much that the European Capital Cities Road Safety Education Committee has agreed to recommend similar schools in its members' nations. So far, they have been set up in Paris, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, and Lisbon. During its school year, two classes of up to 35 pupils visit the Dublin school each day for a two-hour session. In school holidays, other children's groups are taught. Each session has a video, a short discussion about road safety issues, and practical training. The course content is matched to pupils' age and topical issues. The school argues that education plays a crucial part in reducing accidents in the long term, by changing attitudes and behaviour. Dublin Corporation's new safety strategy envisages an expanded role for the school, to include special training for users of mopeds and motorcycles, theory testing, pre-learner driver courses, and hazard perception tests.
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