The Adventures of Togo & Nogo with Sam

Two popular characters will deliver a powerful road safety message to Manchester school children on Monday 10 March.

Children from local Manchester schools will be treated to a brand new tale featuring Togo and Nogo, already familiar to hundreds of local youngsters.

They are animated characters in an interactive education package developed by Manchester's road safety team over the past three years. The latest story, following their adventures with their friend Sam, is part of an ongoing campaign to teach children the skills they need to keep them safe on the roads.

More than 40 other authorities in the UK and Ireland have adopted the resource and Togo and Nogo are proving to be extremely popular with children and adults.

More than 9,000 children are killed or seriously injured on the roads in the UK every year. About 60% of the casualties are pedestrians and road traffic collisions are the main cause of accidental death of children up to the age of 16.

In 2006 (latest figures available) 341 children were injured on Manchester roads, of which 145 were killed or seriously injured. More than half were pedestrians and most of the collisions occurred within two miles of the victims' homes.

The road safety team's programme is designed to increase children's awareness and understanding of their own traffic environment through practical teaching, which has been shown to be the most effective way of influencing safer behaviour. The team has developed a number of road safety initiatives targeting the entire primary school spectrum from nursery to year six.

As children get older they become more independent, and therefore, more frequently vulnerable to risks on the roads. Statistics show that the older children are, the more likely they are to be involved in a collision.

Councillor Neil Swannick, Manchester City Council's executive member for the environment, said: "It is clearly unacceptable that so many children are injured on Manchester's roads every year. Giving them the skills to keep themselves and those around them safe is vital.

"We all have to negotiate the potential hazards which traffic poses on a daily basis. For children to learn how to negotiate these difficulties in a safe environment, through information that is both challenging and entertaining, is ideal. They will carry those skills with them through life."

Media contacts:

Rebecca Kennedy/Deborah Grace, tel 0161 234 3332