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Traffic School Receives Donation of Hand-cranked Tricycles

Traffic School set to foster road safety among children

By Latrobe City Council - 8th February 2002 - Back to News

Three hand cranked tricycles have been presented to the Hazelwood Power Children’s Traffic School, providing children with a disability the opportunity to take advantage of the full range of training activities the traffic school offers.

Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Brendan Jenkins, said the new tricycles would create a more inclusive community and prove another valuable asset in increasing awareness about road safety throughout the community.

"Council is extremely thankful to Hazelwood Power and Australian Paper for each donating a hand cranked bicycle to the traffic school. These two donations together with a third bicycle provided by Latrobe City Council and public donations will provide more equal access to a small but just as important group of road users.

"Every child uses our roads whether as a pedestrian a cyclist, or as a passenger in a car, and this is the case no matter what their ability. The whole idea of the Traffic School is to educate all children on the numerous dangers that face them every day on our roads, and to teach them safe road habits and skills which they will use for the rest of their life. These tricycles make these important lessons more inclusive," Cr Jenkins said.

Chairperson of the Australian Paper Employees’ Friendly Society, Robyn Jennings, said the company’s donation resulted from a Maryvale Mill initiative where safe working practices were rewarded by management in the form of a monetary amount being available for donation to a charity or worthwhile cause.

"All employees at the Mill play a vital role in making money available

due to their combined effort to work in a safe manner. In this instance, their work safety results in the donation of a tricycle to the Traffic School, which will foster road safety among children, with benefits for our whole community," Ms Jennings said.

Chief Executive Officer of Hazelwood Power, Ken Teasdale, said the Hazelwood Power Children’s Traffic School was truly a facility for the entire community. "Through the efforts of local educators, we are pleased to be involved in providing road safety and education for as many youngsters as possible," Mr Teasdale said.

"On behalf of the entire Hazelwood Power team, I have great pleasure in formally handing this purpose-built trike to the Traffic School and I hope that the trike brings enormous pleasure to youngsters, who might not normally have experienced the joy that riding a bike can bring.

"We have formed a very good partnership with Latrobe City over the past five years, we are proud of that partnership and we expect to continue looking for ways to join with Council on worthwhile initiatives for the Latrobe community," Mr Teasdale added.

Cr Jenkins said the need for special tricycles had come to light when doing some Bike–Ed work. "One of the local schools hired a hand-cranked bicycle for one of their students to use, but this was at considerable cost.

"These are purpose built vehicles that are not mass-produced and are consequently costly to procure. Latrobe is fortunate to have corporate businesses that are prepared to put back into the region where they operate. This is a tangible example of their ongoing contribution to our community," Cr Jenkins said.

"The hand-cranked bicycles will be available for use at the Traffic School and can be hired for on-site Bike-Ed programs as appropriate, so that our education program can be as inclusive as possible for children of all abilities," Cr Jenkins added.

Further information is available from the Hazelwood Power Children’s Traffic School, telephone 1300 367 700

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: support@gippslander.com

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