Poorer children at higher risk of road accidents

16 August 2010

Road Safety Analysis, has revealed the results of a study measuring child road casualty risk according to the area they live in. 

The research is based on five years’ data covering over 120,000 child road casualties and is the first time that such a detailed study has been conducted.

In a report titled “Child Casualties 2010; A study into resident risk of children on roads in Great Britain 2004-08”, the level of risk children are exposed to is compared across 408 local authority areas and shows that children living in some areas have almost a one in 200 chance of being injured each year.

The findings show that children in more deprived areas are at much greater risk than those from more affluent areas. Children living in Preston, for example, are more than twice as likely to be injured on the road than the national average, and five times more likely than those in Kensington & Chelsea.

More specific findings from the report show:

• The national average is for one child (aged 0-15 years) in every 427 to be injured in a road traffic crash each year.
• The children most at risk are those from “families on lower incomes who often live in large council estates where there is little owner-occupation” and are found in most regions in the UK, with the exception of the South East and London. 
• Road safety risk is at its highest on a Friday, the next highest day is Saturday. Sunday is the day that the fewest number of casualties are recorded
• May is when the highest number of recorded child casualties are reported while the winter months show child casualties decreasing by approximately 25 per cent. Child pedestrian casualties are actually at their lowest in August, potentially due to there being fewer children in the country
• Overall, children are less likely to be injured on the roads than adults