Schools to take part in road safety campaign as Sheffield records 170 children road casualties each year

Every year, an average of 170 children are injured or killed on roads near schools in Sheffield between 2015 and 2019, according to the latest report by the Department for Transport.
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The figures for 2019 show that Yorkshire and the Humber has the fourth highest child road casualty figures in the UK, although it is only the seventh most populous region.

National road safety charity Brake, which compiled the statistics, said this means 36 children from the region are killed or injured every week.

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Sheffield however shows a steady decline since 2015 where 194 casualties were reported that year, followed by 172 in 2016, 184 in 2017, 166 in 2018 and 132 in 2019.

Every year, an average of 170 children are injured or killed on roads near schools in Sheffield between 2015 and 2019, according to the latest report by the Department for Transport.Every year, an average of 170 children are injured or killed on roads near schools in Sheffield between 2015 and 2019, according to the latest report by the Department for Transport.
Every year, an average of 170 children are injured or killed on roads near schools in Sheffield between 2015 and 2019, according to the latest report by the Department for Transport.

Within the region, Leeds is the local authority with the highest number of children killed or injured on roads, with 224 reported in 2019 – a drop of 21 percent compared to 2015 (282).

The five-year average for Leeds is 267, meaning that 22 children are killed or injured on the city’s roads in a typical month.

And due to this very reason, thousands of schoolchildren across the region will take it to the streets around their schools on Wednesday (June 16) to raise awareness on road safety.

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The children, aged between four and 11, are among more than 50,000 across the UK who are taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk with Shaun the Sheep.

The short, supervised walks are taking place at or around schools and nurseries where children will walk in a crocodile formation and hold hands to highlight the importance of being able to walk without fear or threat from traffic.

The national project, run by road safety charity Brake in partnership with insurance company esure, sees Shaun and his flock help youngsters learn key road safety messages.

Scott Williams, head of programme delivery at Brake, said: “It’s every child’s right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution.

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"Throughout the pandemic, families have taken to the streets on foot and by bike and we hope these activities will continue as restrictions lift and ordinary road traffic returns.

"It is vital that children are able to walk safely in the places where they live. Although numbers of children killed or injured in Yorkshire and the Humber shows positive signs of decline, every road death or injury is one too many and causes devastation for families, schools and communities.

"This year we hope to inspire as many children, schools and families as possible to call for safe and healthy journeys for children through our Brake’s Kids Walk event.”

David McMillan, CEO at esure Group added: “We are thrilled to have partnered with Brake to sponsor this year’s event as we believe in the importance of road safety for children everywhere.

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"We want to be a force for good and make a real difference by focusing on better and safer driving. Brake’s Kids Walk is an important opportunity to raise awareness about road safety messages.”

Founded in 1995, Brake is a national road safety charity that exists to stop the needless deaths and serious injuries that happen on roads every day while making streets and communities safer and caring for families bereaved and injured in road crashes.