Road safety work is one of the main tasks of the police. The general aim is to increase road safety and minimize the risk of accidents on the road. To this end, various measures are taken to positively influence the behavior of road users. In principle, every police officer performs this task as part of their daily duties, for example in traffic education talks during checks. However, the main responsibility in the Märkischer Kreis is borne by the "Traffic Accident Prevention and Victim Protection" department based in Letmathe (contact details can be found on this page). The colleagues carry out many different projects every year to make the Märkischer Kreis a little safer every day. Some of them are presented here as examples. Further information on our projects can be found further down on this page.
Traffic education in kindergartens
The MK police teach children the correct behavior in road traffic. The events are held in kindergartens. However, parents are also involved here and are provided with information. Children have a much narrower field of vision than adults. They see vehicles approaching from the side later. Children can hardly estimate speeds and braking distances and are naturally smaller. They can therefore hardly see over parked vehicles. Children have difficulty locating noises. They often do not recognize in time from which direction a vehicle is approaching. Children cannot look left and right when walking fast. They are unable to stop in the event of sudden danger. Children believe that all other road users perceive traffic in the same way as they do. They think that cars can stop on the spot. Children are quickly overwhelmed. They cannot pay attention to several things at the same time. Overall, this makes them unpredictable for other road users and particularly worthy of protection.
Traffic puppet stage
The traffic accident prevention department of the police in the Märkischer Kreis district visits the first classes of elementary school in the Märkischer Kreis with a portable puppet stage. Building on the program that is carried out in the kindergartens with the pre-school children, the content is taken up again at school, repeated several times and thus decisively deepened. Using the puppet show method, the "first graders" are shown the correct behavior as pedestrians in road traffic in a child-friendly way, so that they learn to move around independently and in a traffic-friendly manner in their living environment.
Bicycle training from year 4
All elementary school in the Märkischer Kreis district Children become more mobile as they get older. They expand their living space by bike. This results in dangers, especially in road traffic, which are documented by accident figures. The MK police offer cycling courses for 9-13 year old girls and boys, which are carried out in cooperation with all elementary school. Advanced cycling courses are offered at secondary schools.
Driving safety training for upper secondary schools
The road safety advice service of the police in the Märkischer Kreis district specifically targets young drivers with a driver safety training course. The 18 - 24-year-old novice drivers are invited via the vocational schools, comprehensive schools, grammar schools and training workshops in the Märkischer Kreis district. They are still inexperienced in road traffic and are more likely to take risks. Excessive speed, alcohol and drugs and their own overestimation of their own abilities often put them in extreme traffic situations that can lead to serious traffic accidents.
Seniors
The proportion of over 60-year-olds in the overall population is rising sharply. For them, participation in road traffic is an important prerequisite for taking an active part in social life. Various measures are in place to help senior citizens in the Märkischer Kreis district stay safe and mobile. For example, at lecture and moderation events in senior citizens' circles, cycling training for beginners and those returning to cycling, prevention talks at selected locations in public traffic areas or driver safety training courses.
