Speed kills... so listen to the children

Having your child mown down by a vehicle and killed or seriously injured is any parent's worst nightmare.

For the parents of 2,540 UK children, that nightmare was a devastating reality last year.

In addition, another 11,179 children were left with cuts, bruises and mental trauma from being hit by a vehicle while walking or cycling.

That's 13,719 children killed or injured in just one year.

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Many of them were hurt by speeding drivers, and that's why the theme for this year's Road Safety Week (November 22-28) is Kids Say Slow Down.

Ellen Booth, campaigns manager for Brake, the road safety charity that runs the week, says the charity believes that 20mph should be the default speed limit

for towns and villages, especially around homes, schools, shops and community facilities where there are likely to be pedestrians and cyclists.

She says: "The reason 20mph is so important is not that you'll hit a child with

less speed, it's that at 20mph you stand a significant

chance of stopping before you hit the child.

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"There's no speed that's safe to hit a child, but you want to be driving at a speed where you have the opportunity not to hit them."

At 20mph, drivers have a good chance of stopping in time if a child runs out three car lengths in front of them.

At 30mph, it takes about six car lengths to stop.

"Any faster than 20mph, and you would hit that child and have a significant chance of killing or maiming them," warns Booth.

"The theme, Kids Say Slow Down, emphasises that it's children speaking out this year to tell drivers that they want them to slow down."

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Schools around the country are using Road Safety Week to campaign for either a 20mph limit outside their school, speed cameras or traffic-calming measures.

"All the schools involved have either had a child run over and killed, or are worried that it might happen because of the dangerous road outside their school," says Booth.

"It's very much about local communities speaking out."

There are already 20mph speed limits in various areas around the country – York, for example, is currently implementing some trial signed only 20mph speed limits in various locations across the city.

And a recent study of the 399 20mph zones in London showed that the zones are very effective at reducing casualties on the roads where they are placed - and also on surrounding roads.

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The study found that introducing the zones resulted in a 41.9 per cent reduction in all road casualties, and a 50.2 per cent decrease in the numbers of children aged under-15 killed or seriously injured.

Casualties in areas adjacent to 20mph zones also fell slightly, by around eight per cent

"They're proven to make a huge difference to the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and child casualties," says Booth.

She acknowledges that reducing speed limits is a controversial step, but stresses: "I think the vast majority of people understand that driving faster is more dangerous, and that if they do hit someone, they're more likely to die.

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"But still a lot of people drive fast, even though they know there are consequences – they understand the message, but they're not committing to it and changing their behaviour."

She stresses that many of the drivers Brake is trying to educate during Road Safety Week are parents themselves, adding: "They'd be absolutely horrified if their child was knocked over – especially if the driver was speeding.

"But they might find themselves speeding from time to time in other people's neighbourhoods.

"This is about getting drivers to assess how they're driving themselves."

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Another major part of the campaign is getting the Government to listen, she says, pointing out that last year the Government did approve speed cameras for 20mph zones.

Before that, the only way of enforcing the zones was by using traffic calming measures such as road humps.

She adds: "It's hard to get any kind of substantial change through

Government – everything takes a long time, but it's a case of continuing to press and show that the public really want this."

13,719 REASONS TO SLOW DOWN

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In 2009, 70 children were killed by a vehicle while walking or cycling and 2,470 were left with serious injuries

In addition, another 11,179 children were left with cuts, bruises and mental trauma from being hit by a vehicle while walking or cycling, often on their way to or from school.

That means 13,719 children killed or injured in just one year.

Many of them were hurt by speeding drivers, and that's why the theme for this year's Road Safety Week (November 22-28) is Kids Say Slow Down.

For more information www.roadsafetyweek.org

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