1 June - Nursery children and parents get car safety advice

The dangers cars can present to toddlers will be highlighted at a safety event at a Middlesbrough nursery

The dangers cars can present to toddlers will be highlighted at a safety event at a Middlesbrough nursery on Friday, June 1.

Children, staff and parents at Marton Day Nursery will receive information and advice from Middlesbrough Council's road safety team.

The awareness campaign has been inspired by the Iain Goodwill Trust which was formed in 2008 after Iain was tragically killed aged 17 months in an accident on the driveway of his own home in Scotland.

Another toddler managed to get access to the keys of the family estate car, start the ignition and the car reversed over Iain.

Iain's parents, Helen and Mark Goodwill, have since campaigned to prevent accidents involving children and vehicles.

An online survey by the Iain Goodwill Trust and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents found that 42% of respondents reported that their children had picked up the family car keys without being seen to do so.

Of those almost 10% reported that their children had gained access to the vehicle parked on their drive putting the child at serious risk of an accident.

Children left alone in cars have released handbrakes, injuring other children and in one case a child started a fire with a box of matches found in the car.

Councillor Nicky Walker, Middlesbrough Council's Executive Member for Transport said: "Tragedies, like the death of Iain Goodwill, are simply devastating for a family to endure which is why it is important to raise awareness of the dangers posed by cars to very young children.

"Toddlers, being so full of energy and inquisitive, are particularly vulnerable to being knocked over in driveways or putting themselves at harm inside a car."