Every year, at the start of a new school season the ‘Our schools have started again’ campaign by Veilig Verkeer Nederland is visible on the roads near school. It helps schools and municipalities to contribute in an accessible way to a safe start to school for pupils after their summer holidays. Materials and expressions are available such as banners, posters and sandwich boards on lampposts that can be hung in a clearly visible position along motorways and crossings close to the bicycle routes of the young people. Attention is also drawn to road safety in social media in the three week around the start of the school season.

After the holiday, when traffic in the Netherlands is relatively quieter and you can ‘easily drive on’, you suddenly find yourself in the hustle and bustle again at the end of August/beginning of September and that takes some getting used to. Then the chance of irritation, haste and therefore inattention is high. And for students, the start of (the sometimes new) school is always exciting and the cycling route to school and participating in traffic are not always 100% where the attention lies.

Safety in and around schools always has the highest priority. Together with teachers, we draw attention to the safe start of school after the summer holidays at the start of the school-season. Because many accidents still occur during this period. The ‘Our schools have started again’ campaign is widely supported in the Netherlands by nearly 500 schools, municipalities and the business community.