Child Pedestrians - Safekids NZ child safety information

 
  

Child Pedestrians
Make roads safe for children

According to the UN and the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 5,000 pedestrians are killed on the world’s roads each week. Many of those killed are children walking to and from schools. 

In New Zealand, child pedestrian injuries is a leading cause of traffic related child deaths.

3 FACTS

>5

More than 5 child pedestrians are killed each year.

>100

are hospitalised.

5-9

School age kids (5-9yo) are the most at risk.

View Child Pedestrians Resources

Click the link above to order or download resources (i.e. posters, flyers, infographics) relating to this injury issue.

For kids

  • Heads up, devices down when crossing the road.
  • Watch out for sneaky driveways.
  • Use pedestrian crossings and controlled intersections.
  • Have a school travel plan, or join a Walking School Bus when travelling to school.

For drivers

  • Double check those intersections and crossings.
  • Slow down at school zones at all times.
  • When passing a stationary school bus, remember that either way the speed limit is 20Kph

The Long Short Walk

Safekids Aotearoa and FedEx are asking everyone to help make Road safety Week (May 4-10) child fatality‐free by doing a ‘Long Short Walk’.  

The Long Short Walk is a fun activity with a serious aim. We want you to take a short walk in your community and take a video or photograph of a dangerous road or intersection. Photos can be uploaded in www.longshortwalk.org. Combined with snapshots from around the world, they will provide a glimpse of the risky journeys children take. 

The short term goal of the Long Short Walk is to prevent even a single pedestrian fatality during the week. The long term goal is urge governments around the world to make greater investment in safe footpaths, cycle‐ways and crossing points, and on streets with lower speed limits, especially around schools.

Read about Long Short Walks held in NZ in 2013 in Safekids News.     

UN: Have your say

We’re calling for road safety to be included in the UN’s new Development Goals. You can tell the UN to include road safety in its priorities post-2015. Join us, vote for better transport and roads and suggest road safety as an extra priority here.

Advocate for safer NZ roads

Governments at the UN are currently putting together recommendations for the new set of development goals. Right now, they are drafting the recommendations. Now is the time to get your Government to act!

Write to NZ policy makers. Ask them to ensure that a target on road safety is in the new Goals. A target to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries could be particularly effective within a Post-2015 Health Goal and cross-referenced to an Urbanisation Goal for example.

Visit www.makeroadssafe.org to download:

  • a draft model letter to send to policy-makers.
  • an information sheet on who to contact.
  • a more detailed policy briefing for your Government on a road injury reduction target.