The Department for Transport (DfT) has launched an online game to help cut child road deaths.

The game – called ‘The Code of Everand’ – features a virtual world in which children learn road safety skills, such as how to cross safely and how to find a safe place to cross.

At the launch of the game last week, Road Safety Minister Paul Clark said that Britain’s roads were are among the safest in the world, but the death of any child was ‘one death too many’.

‘Previous THINK! campaigns have been very effective in teaching young people about road safety – and the number of children killed on Britain's roads has fallen by more than 50 per cent since the mid-1990s,’ said Mr Clark. 

‘Despite this, 17 children aged 10 to12 were killed while walking on Britain's roads last year – and more than 500 were seriously injured. That is why we need to continue to do everything we can to give children the skills they need to stay safe.’

The multi-player online game is set in Everand – a fantasy land criss-crossed by spirit channels which are inhabited by dangerous creatures.  Players become the heroes of the virtual society and are known as the ‘Pathfinders’. They are trained to cross the spirit channels safely and travel about the land. In what is a ‘world first’, according to the DfT, the game uses real road data to enable players to confront hazards based on the situations that children might have to face.

Mr Clark added:

‘Today's young people have access to more media than any before and their attitudes to communications have become much more sophisticated. 

‘The Code of Everand' reflects this sophistication and by communicating with children through a medium they already enjoy using, we hope to improve their understanding of the importance of safe road behaviour.’

The skills acquired from the game are ‘particularly vital’ for children as they make the transition from primary to secondary school – and start making longer journeys on their own, says the DfT.

Twice as many child pedestrians aged 12 are hurt each year on Britain's roads, compared with children aged nine years – and in 2008, more than 2,500 children aged 10 to 12 were injured, as well as the 17 who were killed.

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