Child deaths on Scottish roads increase

Date: 20/6/2012

New figures suggest more could be done to reduce the number of accidents involving children on Scotland's roads.

Data from Transport Scotland has today (June 20th) revealed seven youngsters under the age of 16 were killed following incidents on routes in the country last year. This is an increase of four deaths on the total in 2010.

While five of the children were passengers in cars, two were pedestrians.

The number of children seriously injured in reported road accidents fell from 223 to 203 in the timeframe, while the total number of child casualties - which covers those who are killed, seriously injured or slightly injured - declined from 1,378 to 1,315.

Despite this improvement, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) in Scotland is disappointed in the results and highlighted the growth in the number of deaths. The figures are particularly bad given that road fatalities fell as a whole.

"Scotland has a very strong culture of different organisations working together on road safety and it is crucial that this work continues and that all those involved look for fresh ways to prevent death and injury on our roads," said Road Safety Officer for RoSPA Scotland Kathleen Braidwood.

As well as the data regarding child safety, the organisation commented on casualties involving cyclists.

A total of seven cyclists were killed in 2011, which was exactly the same as 2010's figure. The amount of seriously injured cyclists increased by 13 per cent, from 138 to 156.

Furthermore, the overall number of cyclist casualties went from 781 to 824 - a growth of six per cent.

Ms Braidwood described cyclists and children as "vulnerable" road users and noted the poor safety figures for these two groups negatively affect Scotland's overall results, which have reached a record low.

"The child, cyclist and pedestrian figures show that we cannot see road safety as a 'job done'," she stated.

In Scotland there are five national targets for accident reductions by 2020 and authorities want to achieve a 65 per cent reduction in the number of seriously injured children compared with 2004-08.

Posted by Sarah Bailey