Hector the Cat (also known as Hector Cat, Hector the Road Safety Cat or simply Hector) is a fictional

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

and

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

created to aid the teaching of

road safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-road ...

to children in Australia. Educational material relating to the character was developed by the Australian Department of Transport in association with state and territory road authorities. "Hector's road safety song" became well known in Australia when it was shown as a public service announcement on television. The blue and yellow striped cat first appeared on a school calendar in 1971 with a storyline that he had lost eight of his nine lives due to "ignorance of road safety practices". This was followed by a short instructional film. In subsequent years other characters were introduced in calendars, instructional films, and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s including Millie, his girlfriend (1973), Uncle Tom (1974), Hector and Millie's three kittens (1975) and his space friend Ding Dong (1982). A study in 1978 found that, although children enjoyed the characters and stories, the material had a number of inadequacies. It stressed that road safety research findings and

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

theory would need to be considered for any future development. The character is currently used by the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Department of Transport to promote road awareness to children. The song "Stop, Look, Listen, Think" is featured in his Road Safety Show.

References

Public service announcement characters Fictional cats Public service announcements Pedestrian safety Child safety Cat mascots Male characters in advertising {{fict-char-stub

See also

References