Rich-poor divide in Shropshire child road deaths
Saturday 17th July 2010, 11:30AM BST.
Children living in deprived areas of Shropshire are more likely to die in road accidents than those in affluent areas, highways bosses said today.
They made the comments as new figures for Shropshire’s road network revealed that during the past 10 years, 2,203 people have been killed or seriously injured on the county’s roads including 181 children.
The statistics were today unveiled by Shropshire Council’s Transportation Department which compiles an annual list of accident statistics relating to Shropshire roads.
Martin Withington, Shropshire Council’s head of transportation, said: “We use the statistics to indicate which road users are most at risk.
“One thing we found is that children from deprived areas are far more likely to be involved in a collision. If you go to a deprived area there are more children out walking and on bikes than in more affluent areas. One thing we do is identify schools in deprived areas and offer to work with the children and educate them about road safety as it might be that their parents are less likely to teach them.”
Despite the high numbers, the statistics also show that from 1994 to 2009 the number of fatal and serious casualties fell from 479 in 1994 to 143 last year.
The number of slight injuries peaked in 1999 at 1,250 but has fallen since then to 972 last year.
Councillor Martin Taylor-Smith, who is the representative for road safety at Shropshire Council, said: “I’m delighted that the number of deaths has been declining as the council has taken a very active role in reducing speed limits.”
Most Commented
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Planners ordered to stay on Newport visit bus
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
