Around 186 300 children under 18 years die from road traffic crashes annually, and rates of road traffic death among children are three times higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. A newly published World Health Organization (WHO) document, Ten strategies for keeping children safe on the road, draws attention to the risks for children on the world’s roads and highlights measures to save lives.
Other findings from the report include:
– Road traffic injuries are the leading killer of children aged 15-17 years worldwide
– Road traffic injury ranks among the top four causes of death for children over the age of five years
– Two times as many boys as girls die in road traffic crashes
– Of children aged 0-19 years killed on the road, 38% are pedestrians, 36% are vehicle occupants, 14% are motorcyclists, and the remainder include drivers, cyclists and others
Safer roads for all will mean safer roads for children. While no single measure adequately addresses the vast range of risks to children on the road, the ten strategies below are those which are best known – especially when implemented as a package – to keep children safe on the road.
– Controlling speed
– Reducing drinking and driving
– Using helmets for bicyclists and motorcyclists
– Restraining children in vehicles
– Improving children’s ability to see and be seen
– Enhancing road infrastructure
– Adapting vehicle design
– Implementing graduated driver licensing
– Providing appropriate care for injured children
– Supervising children around roads
The new document is released in advance of the Third UN Global Road Safety Week, 4-10 May 2015, on children and road safety. The Week, a global milestone in the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020, seeks to highlight the plight of children on the world’s roads and generate action to better ensure their safety. Most countries of the world will mark the Week and its global campaign – #SaveKidsLives – in some way.
RELATED LINKS
#SaveKidsLives – http://www.savekidslives2015.org/
Third UN Global Road Safety Week – http://www.who.int/roadsafety/week/2015/en/
Document: Ten strategies for keeping children safe on the road- http://bit.ly/1EzIFmQ
Infographic: Ten strategies for keeping children safe on the road – http://www.who.int/entity/roadsafety/week/2015/Final_A4_format_Infographic.pdf
Global calendar of events: Third UN Global Road Safety Week – http://www.who.int/roadsafety/week/2015/events/event_calendar/en/
