Many parents will be breathing a (small) sigh of relief today as the last of the schools starts up for the new school year. However, at this time every year, there are several tragic stories of road traffic accidents taking place near schools. Often, the combination of cars and school buses dropping off and picking up children as well as a large number of kids running out into the road without warning can lead to many unfortunate accidents.
To quote Department for Transport website, “Road Traffic Accidents are one of the main causes of death and injury to children of school age.” Figures from the DfT also reveal that 55 children aged 11 and under were killed on UK roads in 2007, with over 1,500 more being seriously injured. It is worth mentioning that in recent years, deaths caused by road accidents have declined significantly, although as you can see, over 1 young child a week dies somewhere in the UK as a result of a road traffic accident.
Startling road accident statistic
Perhaps the most startling statistic mentioned by the DfT is that out of a class of 30 children, 2 are likely to either be killed or seriously injured in a road traffic accident before they finish compulsory schooling at 16. This number has declined considerably since the early 80’s however, despite there being many more cars on the roads these days. The decline has been attributed to road safety campaigns and changes in the design of roads outside school entrances, which commonly have lower speed limits and supervised crossings.
Teaching children about road safety can help to reduce the likelihood that they will be involved in an accident on the road. However when the worst happens and your child is injured in an accident, professional legal advice from a firm like Camps can help to take the strain out of making a compensation claim.
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