Pedestrian crossing sign

Road traffic injuries are the leading mechanism of fatal injuries in the WHO European region.

Road traffic injuries

In 2008 in Great Britain, 2807 children up to the age of 15 were killed or seriously injured on British roads, including 124 fatalities.*

That is almost two classes full of pupils every week being killed or seriously injured as pedestrians, car passengers and cyclists.

Also, in 2007, 300 inexperienced drivers and young passengers aged 16 to 20, died on the roads*

There is a downward trend overall in the number of deaths and serious injuries on British roads, however, road traffic injuries remain the biggest single cause of accidental deaths amongst children and young people.

* Source: Department for Transport