The government body has appointed Iris to identify potential partners for the activity, which will launch in the autumn -- the main time of year for children's road-safety messages.
The brand partners will flag up the safety messages across their business through channels such as point-of-sale, customer communications and one-off events.
The work will target seven- to 10-year-old children and their parents, with the DfT looking to recruit brands that have a link to both, such as retailers and leisure brands. The tie-ups will support its ongoing road-safety campaign, featuring a pair of singing hedgehogs.
The activity will also run alongside the DfT's "Be safe be seen" message. This will be promoted through a heavyweight TV campaign by Leo Burnett, which will coincide with the clocks going back an hour on October 30. The ad reminds children to wear bright clothes at night to ensure they will be seen by drivers.
The "Hedgehogs" campaign will be supported through advertising in UCI and Odeon cinemas around the latest Aardman Animations film, 'Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'.
It also has a dedicated interactive website, , intended to inform children about the dangers presented by roads. It features games, wallpaper downloads and the lyrics from the songs featured in the ads.
The brand initiative marks the latest work by Iris for the DfT since it won the Driver Tiredness partnership brief through the COI in a four-way pitch last July.
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