Child road deaths down 80% since 1997

THE NUMBER of children killed on the State’s roads has fallen by almost 80 per cent since 1997, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

However, almost one-third of child passengers killed during the period were not wearing a seat belt or child restraint, the authority said.

In this latest research, the authority compiled detailed statistics on the number of boys and girls under 14 killed or injured on the roads, as passengers or pedestrians, since 1997.

By the end of last year, 258 children had been killed on the roads and more than 1,000 seriously injured since 1997.

While a complete set of statistics is available only up to 2010, mostly because of the time lag in completing coroners’ hearings, six children died on the roads in 2011, the same number killed in 2010.

That is half the number who died in 2009, when 12 children were killed. The worst year for road deaths over the period was 1998, when 34 children were killed.

More than 40 per cent of children killed or seriously injured on the roads were passengers in cars. Of those who were killed, one in three were not in a car seat or wearing a belt or child restraint.

The highest number of deaths was among pedestrians. Between 1997 and 2010, 109 child pedestrians died, 93 car passengers and 33 child cyclists.

Almost 60 per cent of those killed were boys. Slightly more girls than boys were killed in cars – 48 compared to 45.

More than 70 boys were killed while walking or playing on the roads – twice the number of girls who died this way.

While more girls than boys died in cars, boys accounted for 60 per cent of all children who were not wearing a seat belt or using a car seat when they died.

RSA chief executive Noel Brett said that while legislation requiring children be appropriately restrained had contributed to the reduction in deaths, the biggest factor was parental behaviour and attitudes.

It was essential that a good attitude was maintained as children returned to school, he said. “While we welcome the reduction in deaths and fatalities, the number of children killed on the roads is still catastrophic.”