RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

June 17, 1999
FALL IN CHILD ROAD ACCIDENT RATES WELCOME NEWS

The reduction in the number of children killed or injured on Britain’s roads must be seen as welcome news, but there is still much more work to be done, according to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Dave Rogers, RoSPA Road Safety Adviser, welcomed the figures for 1998, released today by the Government, which show a reduction in all road accident deaths of five per cent, and a reduction in casualties of one per cent, compared with last year.

He said: "What is especially good news is that the number of children killed on the roads has fallen by 19 per cent compared with last year, and the number of child pedestrian deaths has fallen by one quarter.

"Our child pedestrian casualty rate has been cited as one of the worst in Europe for many years so this reduction can only be good news.

"However, there is still much work to be done as a total of 206 children still lost their lives in road accidents last year, including 103 who were pedestrians. A further 5,873 children were seriously injured and 37,366 slightly injured in road accidents."

As part of its effort to protect children from the dangers of traffic, RoSPA is publishing new guidelines for organising child pedestrian skills training schemes, in association with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the Local Authority Road Safety Officers Association and the Association of London Borough Road Safety Officers. They will be provided free to all local authorities.

Dave Rogers said: "Parental involvement is one of the key aims of the new guidelines and we hope that mothers and fathers will begin to realise there is much more they can do to keep their children safe on the roads."