The Road Safety Authority (RSA) launched the Safe Cross Code Dance Competition 2019 for primary school students today. Now entering its fifth year, the competition encourages children to demonstrate to all pedestrians how to cross the road safely. Along with their teachers, students nationwide from junior infants to sixth class recreate the dance, performing the song in either Irish or English, for a chance to win great prizes for their school. Schools not only get to have fun but also to learn valuable life lessons.

To enter the competition schools must record their students doing the Safe Cross Code dance – this can be done on a phone or tablet. The video must then be emailed directly to [email protected] along with a short description of the dance routine and some details on how the school actively promotes road safety. The closing date for entries is May 10, 2019 at 5pm and full details are on www.rsa.ie.

Moyagh Murdock, Chief Executive Officer, RSA said: “The Safe Cross Code song was written back in 1974 but its core road safety message is still as relevant today as it was more than 40 years ago. With the Safe Cross Code song comes a Safe Cross Code dance, a fun way to learn using visual, aural, verbal and physical learning styles to teach school-children serious and valuable messages around good road behaviour. If you know any primary school students who are creative, like to dance and want to support road safety messaging, encourage them to take part in the Safe Cross Code dance competition. It’s really easy to enter and all the details are on www.rsa.ie.”

Last year’s Safe Cross Code Dance competition saw a fantastic response with entries from all across the country. Against some tough competition, Castletown Girls School in Dundalk, Co. Louth were the English category winners and Scoil Mologa in Dublin were the Irish category winners. The winning school in each category will receive 30 x 7 inch tablets for the school while the teacher of the winning classes will each receive a €200 voucher. There is a special engraved award for the runner up in each category.

Learning good road safety behaviour at a young age lasts a lifetime and teaching children, the most vulnerable of road users, how to cross the road safely is such an important life skill. Education plays a crucial role in permanently reducing deaths and injuries on Irish roads. Instilling the importance of road safety to the very young will start them on the right journey as road users.