Clown teaches Vorarlberg pupils traffic safety through laughter

A traffic education clown has spent more than 20 years teaching children in Vorarlberg how to cross roads safely and recognise hazards, ORF Vorarlberg reports. Performer Thiemo Dalpra uses humour to help pupils learn without a stern lecture.

Playing the clown Thiemo Schlotterhos, Dalpra deliberately gets things wrong so children can show him the correct way to behave. “The children are practically my teachers,” he told ORF Vorarlberg. “Then I know the message has got through.”

His lessons use props including a carpet marked like a zebra crossing, toy cars and a red nose. He also turns road-safety clothing into part of the fun, using sponges as padding and a colander as a helmet to demonstrate protective equipment for riding a scooter or roller-skating.

At the primary school in Frastanz Fellengatter, the children took part enthusiastically. School director Kathrin Bertsch called the session educationally valuable and said Dalpra managed to hold the attention of 60 children he had not met before.

Dalpra gives about 85 performances at Vorarlberg schools each year. The state funds the visits, but he said he was booked well in advance and hoped the budget would be increased.