Today our Year 3 children will be taking part in pedestrian training where they will learn all about road safety and pedestrian awareness, better known as The Green Cross Code.
The Green Cross Code is probably one of the most well-known codes in the UK. It began in 1970, by the National Road Safety Committee, now known as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, and was to raise awareness of pedestrian road safety in the UK. So, it’s been around for a while.
The history of the Green Cross Code
As we mentioned, the Green Cross Code was launched in 1970. It replaced the Kerb Drill, which was a pedestrian safety campaign with a military style “Halt! Quick march!” instructions. However, this was deemed too confusing for children so was instead replaced by the Green Cross Code campaign. The Green Cross Code is a step-by-step procedure that helped pedestrians cross the road safely. The Green Cross Code has changed slightly in variation over the years, but the concept is the same.
To promote this, they created the Green Cross Code Man, a costumed superhero to teach the Green Cross Code to young children. Interestingly, David Prowse MBE played the character in a series of Public Information Films, of which ran from 1975 to 1990. David Prowse, of course, is most famous for playing Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.
The Green Cross Code Man had the power to teleport from his station at the Green Cross Control to any location where children need instruction to cross the road safely. Sometimes, he was accompanied by a robot companion. His slogan was “I won’t be there when you cross the road, So always use the Green Cross Code. You can watch one of the videos below.