Shocking stats released last week reveal that road incidents are one of the leading causes of accidental death for children between the ages of 10-14, with the number of child pedestrian casualties more than doubling for those aged between 9 and 11. It’s why the Department of Transport have launched their new Think! Safe Adventures campaign - with Kimberly Wyatt as ambassador - to raise awareness of road safety focusing on the three key rules: Eyes up, slow down, cross safely.
The former Pussycat Dolls singer and dancer - who has daughters Willow, nine, and Maple, six, and son Ford, four, with model-actor husband Max Rogers - was excited to get involved. She tells Grazia, ‘It is important to start raising awareness because between the ages of nine to 12, kids are getting ready to be that much more independent as they prepare to head to secondary school.’
The campaign became personal for Kimberly when a fellow mum got injured while on the school run near her Surrey home. ‘Just as I agreed to do this, there was an incident with a nursery mum friend,’ she recalls. ‘She was crossing the road when she was hit by a car. Luckily, my friend let the buggy go so her child got out of the way and she took the brunt of the force to save the kid. She has a broken arm.’ Kimberly continues, ‘I see things like this happening all the time. There can be a lot of rage on the school run, a lot of distractions, everybody's got places to be, parking is a nightmare, everyone wants to be on time and we’ve got a lot to live up to. It makes me realise as parents on school runs, we create a lot of chaos so we’ve got to prepare our kids.’
She adds, ‘Doing this campaign makes me reflective. There's going to be a time where Willow is going to be walking around and I'm not going to be there. It’s scary as a parent, I don’t know anything quite like it.’
Even the younger ones have given her some scary moments. ‘It makes my heart sink into my stomach during the toddler years when they fling themselves into the road to get their way,’ she says. ‘But now their minds are always wandering so anytime we're walking, there are moments that you worry about.’
Kimberly, 42, is aware that she can’t protect her children forever as they grow up. ‘It's scary, because I want to protect them and keep them young forever, but I know that's not the role that I am here to serve. We’re here to be good parents,” she says. ‘Willow loves her independence, more than her siblings, so Max and I are thrust into the deep end quicker than we would want to. We've got to nurture her independence because she's got to be a good strong woman when the time comes. These are the building blocks to making sure that she feels like she can take good care of herself in the future.’
Kimberly Wyatt is supporting new 'Safe Adventures' campaign from THINK! helping parents prepare their children for independent travel by raising awareness of the key road safety risks and encouraging parents to undertake practice journeys over the holidays.