The “Save Young Lives on the Roads” road safety competition is over: more than 50,000 pupils took part – from primary school to graduates

More than 50,000 schoolchildren from all over Lithuania tested their road safety knowledge and skills this year at the organisers of the “Save Young Lives on the Road” competition. Primary school pupils took part in the “Traffic Light” competition, young cyclists competed in the “Safe Wheel” competition, and older road users competed on mopeds and scooters and in cars.

For more than two decades, the “Save Young Lives on the Roads” competition for Lithuanian schoolchildren has been organised every spring by the state-owned company, the Lithuanian Road Administration, together with its partners, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the Lithuanian Road Police Service.

“Through the competition, we are trying to raise public awareness of the importance of road safety and to educate responsible and dutiful road users from an early age. As traffic involves pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers, we are organising the competition for pupils of all ages, inviting them to revise their theoretical knowledge and to use it in practice – by taking part in real-life traffic,” says Remigijus Lipkevičius, the Head of the Road Administration.

Participants – from primary school pupils to graduates

Since 1995, the “Save Young Lives on the Roads” competition invites schoolchildren of all ages to showcase their knowledge of road safety.
“As teenage road users grow up, we are seeing a change in their participation in traffic. While pupils in Years 1-4 tend to walk accompanied by an adult, older children switch to bicycles or scooters. After a few more years, they learn to drive more powerful vehicles – mopeds, motorcycles, and the oldest ones become car drivers,” – says R. Lipkevičius.

The competition is open to both primary school children that are taking their first independent steps on the road and graduates that are driving cars. The “Traffic Light” competition for primary school pupils attracts the largest number of participants each year, with more than 45,000 primary school pupils from 511 schools from all over Lithuania testing their road safety knowledge in the first phase of the competition this year.
Pupils aged 11-14 test their skills and knowledge in the “Safe Wheel” competition for young cyclists. The competition for moped and motorcycle drivers involves students aged 15-18 years completing various theoretical and practical tasks, while students aged 17-19 years compete for the title of Lithuania’s best car-driving student in the Young Car Drivers Competition.

Participants demonstrated both theoretical and practical knowledge

All selection rounds of the “Save Young Lives on the Road” competition were held remotely. At their convenience, students could log in to the competition app and use their smart devices to take the competition tests, which included questions on road signs, real-life traffic situations and the behaviour of road users in such situations.

The highest-performing school teams and individual students in their region went on to compete in the live finals of the competition.
The final stages of “Traffic Light” and “Safe Wheel” took place at the Kaunas Algis Žikevičius Safe Child School and in the town of Saugėnai located in its vicinity – the first and, so far, the only educational space for traffic safety in the Baltic region. Moped and motorcycle competitors demonstrated their skills and knowledge in the finals in Raguva, Panevėžys District, while young car drivers competed in Smalininkai, Jurbarkas District.
“During the finals, participants of all age groups performed both theoretical and practical tasks. For example, primary school pupils demonstrated their knowledge of crossing at traffic lights and junctions, showed how to put on reflectors correctly, young cyclists had to identify the missing parts of a bicycle, identify defects or faults in a bicycle, and then demonstrate their skills in a bicycle relay. Drivers of mopeds, motorcycles and cars also tried their hand at special driving and relay races”, say the organisers.

Congratulations to the winners

During the finals, the pupils who demonstrated the highest level of road safety knowledge in each age group were awarded. They were awarded winners’ cups, medals, congratulatory diplomas and commemorative gifts.
With 44 out of 45 points, the team of Jovarai basic school of Taurage won the first place and triumphed in the competition “Traffic Light”. The second place went to primary school students from Šiauliai “Romuvos” Gymnasium, and the third place went to the team of V. Kudirkos Gymnasium of Kudirkos Naumiestis in Šakiai District.

In the team competition “Safe Wheel”, young cyclists from Panevėžys “Raguvos” Gymnasium won, the second place went to the pupils from Keturvalakiai School Center of the Vilkaviškis Region, and the third place was taken by the team from V.Grybas gimnazium of Lukšiai in Šakiai District. In the individual competition, the students of Panevėžys District “Raguvos” Gymnasium won all the prizes with their knowledge and practical skills: Domininkas Kuoja, Tauras Kupčinskas and Samanta Bartosevičiūtė.

“The winners’ cup of the moped and motorcycle competitions went to the I team of Panevėžys District “Raguvos” Gymnasium, the second place went to the II team of Panevėžys District “Raguvos” Gymnasium, and the third place went to the team of Želva Gymnasium in Ukmergė”, – say the organisers.

Smalininkai School of Technology and Business demonstrated the highest score and the best car driving skills out of 7 teams, while the second and third place was shared by the guests from Raseiniai School of Technology and Business and Vilkija School of Agriculture. Domantas Girdžius (Smalininkai School of Technology and Business) triumphed in the individual standings, leaving behind car drivers from Raseiniai – Airidas Dubauskas and Modestas Simanavičius.
The organisers of the competition are delighted to have such a large number of participants who wanted to contribute to safer behaviour on the road and were determined to improve their knowledge and skills. The organisers would also like to thank all those who contributed to the organisation and implementation of the event. For more information on the competition, visit www.saugusmokinys.lt.