Brake backs walk for safety day

More than 100,000 children from across the UK will take to their streets today to raise awareness of the 39 children who are killed or injured on roads in England every day.

Youngsters aged between four and 11 are taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk, in partnership with Co-op Insurance. This national project is intended to raise the call for key measures to make roads safer.

To coincide with the launch of the walk, road safety charity Brake has highlighted the true extent of child casualties on the nation’s roads. Latest Department for Transport (DfT) figures show that 14,273 children were killed or injured on roads in England in 2016. On average, 39 children die or suffer injuries as a result of road crashes every single day. That’s the equivalent of a classroom full every day.

The South East has the greatest number of child road casualties (2,343 a year), while the North East has the fewest (702 a year). The region that sees the most child road deaths is the north west, with 15 children killed on the region’s roads in 2016.

More than 100,000 children from more than 500 schools and nurseries are taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk, calling for five key measures to help keep them safe: footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic.

Dave Nichols, community engagement manager for Brake, the road safety charity, said, It is every child’s right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution. But many kids are unable to do so because they don’t have access to simple measures such as footpaths, cycle paths and safe places to cross. Many more have to contend with fast traffic and pollution from vehicle emissions. If we want more children and their families to walk, then we need to make sure their journeys are safe.’

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