By Georgia FreeWednesday 21 Dec 2022Hope DriveLifeReading Time: 2 minutes
Every holiday season, the message is clear: slow down on the roads. But sometimes, it can be hard to understand the weight of these campaigns until after a tragedy.
In 2014, Michelle McLaughlin lost her four-year-old son Tom in a pedestrian road crash, while on a family holiday on the Central Coast.
Since then, she has made it her mission to make the roads around holiday areas safer for everyone, especially children.
The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation, created in honour of Tom, currently works with 63 Australian local councils to produce colourful signage around holiday areas – encouraging parents to hold their children’s hands.
Source: Little Blue Dinosaur Facebook
“Holding your child’s hand is just as important as putting on a seatbelt on your child in the car,” Michelle told Hope Drive.
“We need to be vigilant when we have the care of them.”
“Holding your child’s hand is just as important as putting on a seatbelt on your child in the car,” – Michelle McLaughlin
Michelle also reminded people of the cognitive, physical and perceptual limitations of children around busy roads. Beach hamlet areas often don’t have curbs and gutters, and shrubbery and parked cars often cause visual obstruction for children in these suburbs.
“They don’t have peripheral vision fully developed until they’re about 12 and they have slower reflexes,” Michelle said.
She also encouraged parents to educate their children about the dangers of road play and to watch them constantly while near the road.
“Earlier in the day [Tom was killed], there were kids playing cricket, soccer, scootering,” Michelle said.
“That’s very dangerous. It’s not safe…even if the road looks quiet.
“If a child is struck at 50 km/h, there is a 90 per cent chance they will die.
“They are small, they are fragile. It really doesn’t take much.”
Listen to Michelle’s full interview on Hope Drive in the player above.
For more information, visit the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation website.
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