Road traffic injuries in children are the leading cause of death for young people. These accidents often involve cyclists, pedestrians and older road users, who are especially vulnerable to injury. Most deaths from road traffic crashes are associated with low-income countries, where half of all vehicles are produced. The WHO has compiled information on the causes and consequences of road traffic injuries, including how to reduce the risks. You can learn more about the causes and effects of road traffic injuries in children by visiting the WHO website.
Enforcing traffic laws, and providing education
This report outlines public health theory for reducing road traffic injuries and guiding policy and practice. The authors point out that the most effective interventions for reducing road traffic injuries include improving roads and public transport, enforcing traffic laws, and providing education to drivers about the importance of road safety. However, they also note that these strategies only address the underlying causes of road fatalities. This is why it is so important to focus on addressing individual behavior.
Policy-making purposes
While local injury surveillance systems are important for assessing road safety and identifying patterns and causes of injury, they do not provide sufficient information for national policy planning. Instead, the focus should be on collating all the existing information sources available in a country and correcting for the deficiencies of each one. This should help produce a comprehensive picture of road traffic injuries across the country. There is no single source of data for road traffic injuries, and this makes them of little value for policy-making purposes.
