Budding film directors will have the chance to hone their film-making skills while promoting road safety thanks to a new competition for Edinburgh primary schools.
Unveiled during BRAKE Road Safety Week 2017, whose theme is Speed Down Save Lives, the challenge is for pupils to come up with snappy and engaging short films themed around 20mph.
The Reducer, Edinburgh’s 20mph mascot , joined Transport Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes for the competition’s launch at St. Catherine’s RC Primary School in Gracemount yesterday.
The school lies within the fourth and final phase of Edinburgh’s citywide 20mph rollout, which is due to be introduced in South Edinburgh in early 2018 .
Transport Convener Cllr Lesley Macinnes will chair the judging panel for the video competition. She said: “It’s fantastic to meet these enthusiastic and imaginative St Catherine’s pupils, who are really keen to promote road safety messages to their school community.
“I’m delighted to be launching our new 20mph video competition here today, particularly given the UK-wide focus on speeding this week as part of Road Safety Week 2017. Pupils from all over Edinburgh have already been tremendous supporters of the city’s move towards calmer and more pleasant streets – coming up with the design for our mascot, The Reducer, among other things – and I’m sure we’ll see some wonderful creativity on display once again. I can’t wait to see the entries!”
St. Catherine’s Head Teacher Paul Hunter said: “Safety around schools is a very important issue within our city. The 20mph roll-out means that both drivers and our youngest pedestrians have the best chance they can to keep each other safe.
“St. Catherine’s actively encourages our families to walk to school and the local 20mph speed limit will mean that there is now an increased means of keeping these families safe, especially during the winter months.”
Jason Wakeford, director of campaigns for Brake, the road safety charity, said: “Speeding remains a major problem, causing untold suffering to families up and down the country. Driving is unpredictable and if something unexpected happens on the road ahead, such as a child stepping out from between parked cars, it’s a driver’s speed that determines whether they can stop in time and, if they can’t, how hard they will hit. That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to ‘Speed Down Save Lives’ for Road Safety Week this year.
“Brake is also calling for a default 20mph limit in all built-up areas, increased police enforcement and ‘Intelligent Speed Adaptation’, which helps drivers stay within the limit, to be fitted as standard to new vehicles.”
The video competition invites primary schools in Edinburgh to take on the challenge of creating a 60 second video to show why ‘life is better at 20mph.’
The judging panel will be looking for videos which are creative, inspiring and have a clear message.
- The winning school will receive £500 to be spent on active travel activities or equipment
- The two runner-up schools will receive £250 to be spent on active travel activities or equipment
- 20mph goody bags for all the prize-winners
The selected finalists will be invited to a screening of their videos at the Finalists Event in February.
The three winning videos will be used on the Council’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels as part of the 20mph education and awareness programme.
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