Government urged to act on child road deaths

Date: 22/10/2009

The government is being urged to take a zero-tolerance approach to child deaths on the road.

Edward Leigh, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, highlighted the fact that the death rate of child pedestrians in the UK is much higher than in European countries such as Austria, France and Belgium.

Commenting on the Department of Transport's (DoT) commitment to improving safety on the roads, Mr Leigh said it should "give priority" to road safety schemes for children in deprived areas.

"The department should promote speed reducing measures and encourage local authorities to adopt them," he said.

The committee has just published its 49th report examining pedestrian and cycling safety in the UK.

Although the UK is one of the safest countries in the world with regards to deaths on the road, child mortality on is worse than many other countries.

According to statistics from the DoT, the number of people killed or seriously injured on the UK's roads in 2008 was down by 40 per cent on the average 1994-98 number.