RoSPA Press Office : Press Release
February 1, 2001
EXPERTS SEEKING WAYS TO CUT CHILD CARNAGE ON UK ROADS
Road safety experts from around the world will meet next month to discuss ways of reducing child casualties on the UK’s roads.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents’ annual road safety congress, in association with Britax, will be held at the Glasgow Thistle Hotel, March 12-14.
Entitled Child Casualties – Meeting the Target, it will focus on what can be done to achieve the Government’s aim of reducing death and serious injury among children on the roads by 50 per cent in ten years. Road accidents are the leading cause of deaths and injuries among children and young people in the UK.
The conference will be opened by Lord McDonald, Minister for Transport, and Sarah Boyack, Scottish Minister for Transport.
Delegates will hear from road safety experts from the USA, Canada and Austria, as well as speakers from the Transport Research Laboratory, the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, Child Accident Prevention Trust, the Scottish Executive and other organisations.
Issues under discussion include: the safety of American-style yellow school buses; pedestrian and cycle training; safer routes to school; socio-economic influences on the risk of child road accidents; in-car child safety; and creating child-friendly environments.
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, said: "Although we have a reasonably good road safety record, our child pedestrian accident rate is very poor, especially when compared with other European countries.
"The ambitious targets set by the Government for child road casualties can only be met by closely examining the causes of road accidents involving children, and by drawing on good practice shown in the UK and by other countries."
Delegates attending include road safety managers, road safety and accident prevention officers, highway safety engineers, police, health promotion and education professionals, councillors, special interest groups and voluntary organisations.
For more information on this year’s road safety congress, call RoSPA, 0121 248 2000.
