EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:01 HRS GMT THURSDAY 27 JULY 2006
Walking and cycling should be made less dangerous, argue researchers
Researchers are calling for greater government action to help curb child road deaths in the UK, following a new study which finds child pedestrians are 30 times more likely to be killed and child cyclists 50 times more likely to be killed than child car passengers.
Road traffic crashes account for 3500 deaths each year in the UK and are the leading cause of death and acquired disability in children.
Writing in the August issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Dr Phil Edwards1 said:
“About 170 children are killed and over 4000 seriously injured in road injuries every year.”
"Cycling and walking are dangerous for children in the UK and we need government and community action to ensure safer roads for our youngest users,” said Dr Edwards.
"Although pedestrian deaths have declined across the population, figures for children remain disproportionately high and parents have a legitimate fear of pedestrian injury.
"In London alone, the majority of child road injuries happen within three miles of home."
Dr Edwards said fear of child pedestrian injury was creating a vicious cycle.
"Perceived road danger is a disincentive to active transportation such as walking and cycling. A reliance on cars contributes to increasing levels of childhood obesity and greater carbon dioxide omissions which is a major contributor to climate change," said Dr Edwards.
"As is the case in other European cities, walking and cycling must be seen as legitimate modes of transport and strong leadership is needed to change community attitudes. Reducing injury risks for child pedestrians and cyclists is an important part of any strategy to promote walking and cycling," he said.
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Walking, cycling and transport safety: an analysis of child road deaths [PDF 129k]
'Walking, cycling and transport safety: an analysis of child road deaths' is published in the August 2006 (Vol. 99) of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
JRSM is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. It has been published continuously since 1809. Its Editor is Dr Kamran Abbasi.
The article is available free at www.jrsm.org.
1 Department of Epidemiology & Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
