New research from the Road Safety Authority into child fatalities and serious injuries has revealed that 1,259 children up to 14 years of age were killed or seriously injured on Irish roads between 1997 and 2009. A further 9,139 received minor injuries as a result of a collision. In Mayo 344 children were killed or injured between 1997 and 2009. However the number of children killed on Irish roads has almost halved since 1997 with a 45.6 per cent reduction in fatalities under 14 years of age.
The research also revealed that over half of all child casualties in Ireland between 1997 and 2009 were pedestrians or cyclists. As schoolchildren enter the final few weeks of their summer holidays the RSA and ESB Electric Ireland are asking parents, guardians, and teachers to make road safety a priority in their back to school preparations. To help keep children safe on the roads, the RSA and ESB Electric Ireland will once again be distributing 80,000 high-vis vests to every child starting school this year. The vests will be included in the Back to School packs which will be distributed to primary schools nationwide in November.
For further road safety information for parents, teachers and students, visit www.rsa.ie
