Child pedestrians accidents on Welsh roads have increased by 15 per cent in a year.
They now represent a third of all pedestrian road casualties in Wales.
The figures released by the Welsh Government reflect the number of casualties on Welsh roads in 2014. There were 73 children pedestrians under 15 seriously injured on Welsh roads, up from 63 in 2013, and 53 in 2012.
This is the second year in which an increase in children killed or seriously injured on Welsh roads has been witnessed.
Although the number of casualties is still the fifth lowest since records began (1979), a 38% increase in two years is worrying says charity Living Streets.
Rachel Maycock, Living Streets Wales Manager said, “Thankfully no children were killed on Welsh roads last year but every child injury is very sad and worrying and impacts heavily on both the child and their family.
“I sincerely hope that this isn’t the beginning of a rising trend. Although it’s good to see overall progress in the number of fatalities staying down, we must not take our eye off the ball when the number of child casualties is rising.
“Congestion outside school gates and heavy traffic related to school journeys are a major cause of road danger to children. We also know fear of traffic is a major barrier to children walking to school and being physically active. The government must take action to make the route to school safer and encourage more children to walk. Funding to support implementation of the Welsh Travel Act will be essential.”
Park and Stride schemes and lower speed limits are just two ways that Living Streets, the national charity which stands up for pedestrians, believes can help to reduce the number of child casualties that occur during the school run.
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has expressed disappointment at the findings of the latest long term review of drinking and driving which shows a stagnation in progress since 2010.
Drinking and driving data from 1979-2014 shows there were an estimated 8,320 drink-drive casualties in 2014 in Britain, up from 8,270 in 2013.
This is the first increase in casualties since 2002. More importantly drink-drive related deaths have remained unchanged since 2010.
Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research, said, “While good progress has been made over the years, we are very concerned that we may have reached a plateau and are not making much progress in further reducing alcohol related crashes.
“The new government has a great opportunity to set the agenda right at the start of the new administration and top of their list should be a consultation on reducing the drink drive limit in England and Wales to align with Scotland and most of the rest of Europe.”
RAC chief engineer David Bizley added, “While it is encouraging that the numbers of people killed or seriously injured as a result of accidents involving young drink drivers has fallen since 2002, the sad and all-too-familiar fact is that younger drivers still account for a disproportionate number of all drink-drive casualties.
“The coalition Government shelved plans for a green paper on reducing risks to young drivers, but the need to find solutions is as pressing as ever. Education, new technologies such as telematics and graduated licensing potentially all have roles to play. Government, and indeed all of those who share an interest in reducing casualties on our roads, need to use all means at their disposal to address the problem now.”
