Opinion

It's a shocking fact - poor children are most at risk on our roads

Kevin Lowe, Head of Consultancy Services at the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) calls for a co-ordinated approach to combat the high rates of poor children getting injured or killed on our roads

A child walking in a deprived neighbourhood is up to five times more likely to get killed or injured on the road than a child in a well-off area. Shocking? I think so. But why is this and how can we change it?

First, getting more people to realise this must help. Whenever I mention this, people are appalled or don’t quite believe it. Professor Danny Dorling at Oxford University, an expert on inequalities, highlighted the issue as part of last year’s campaign for 20mph speed limits in residential areas:

‘Road traffic accident rates are substantially higher in rural areas than urban ones and they are the single largest cause of death for children and young people aged  5-25. Within urban areas where the majority of the population of Britain lives, children and young adults are more at risk within poorer localities than richer urban neighbourhoods.’

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