Quite Possibly the Funniest Scooter Safety Videos Ever Made
Our friends at Greater Wellington Regional Council have trained thousands of children with the Micro Scooter Safety Programme. To reinforce the training and reach more schools they have now created a series of funny Scooter Safety videos based on the programme that kids will love and more importantly; remember. Quite possibly the funniest scooter safety videos ever made, they feature cast from cult hit series Wellington Paranormal, with adult scooters and helmets by Micro, shot during lockdown.
Wellington Paranormal is our favourite spin-off series from the hugely successful New Zealand mockumentary comedy/horror film What We Do in the Shadows
Video 1: Set up (helmet, clothes and scooter check)
It’s just as important to protect your brain when riding a scooter as it is on a bike. If you fall and hit your head it may cause serious damage. The ground is quite hard after all.
So we need to make sure that we’re wearing the right gear and our scooter is safe before riding.
When wearing a helmet, make sure you can fit two fingers between the helmet and your eyebrows. We call this the Scooter Salute!
Next we need to make sure we are wearing appropriate footwear. On a scooter we need covered shoes on our waewae to protect our toes.
We should also wear something bright or colourful so we can be seen.
Video 2: Stopping safely (hop-stop)
It’s very important that we always keep control of our scooter. This means using our brakes when we need to slow down. But not for too long or they may overheat and you’ll get flat patches.
If something happens and you need to stop quickly, we like to use the ‘Hop-Stop’.
What this means is that you hop off your scooter and run alongside it (count; one two three) to come to a quick stop. Practice by saying "Stop one two three" as you do it.
So that’s how you stop. Use your brakes to slow down, but if you need to stop quickly, use the ‘Hop-stop’.
Make sure you go out and practise these skills.
Video 3: Sharing the footpath
When you’re riding your scooter to school or round to your mates place, you need to stay on the footpath.
But you’re often not the only person using the footpath. It’s really important that we take care of each other. That means slowing down or walking. And giving people space. We call this ‘Giving way’ to pedestrians.
So remember, ride on the footpath and be kind. Scooters are hard and go fast. People are soft and squishy.
Video 4: Stop Look Listen (Sneaky driveways and crossing the road)
When you travel to school, or the shops, or a friends house, you may have to cross places where cars are allowed to be. Such as driveways and roads.
It’s really important to always “Stop. Look. And Listen”. Whenever you may cross paths with cars.
Especially watch out for sneaky driveways...Sneaky driveways are places where drivers can’t see you. There may be a fence, hedge or bend in the path.
So always slow down and be prepared to stop, look and listen when you go past a sneaky driveway. If you see or hear a car coming, stay well back until they are clear. Then check again.
When you need to cross the road, find a safe place to cross. A school or pedestrian crossing is best, but otherwise, find a place away from other roads, where you can see clearly and you can be seen.
Stop, look and listen before you cross the street. And do the same for driveways. Especially sneaky ones.
Te Reo Versions
CREDITS.
Produced for Greater Wellington with thanks to: Wellington Paranormal Unit, Kahurangi School, Micro Scooters New Zealand, NZ Police, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency
Featuring: Officer O’Leary Sergeant Maaka
