§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the United Kingdom record on child pedestrian accidents; and if he will make a statement on the progress of initiatives in this area. [24469]
§ Ms Glenda JacksonThe United Kingdom has one of the best road safety records in the world, but progress overall on child pedestrian safety has not been as good as in other areas. The previous administration set a target to reduce child pedestrian deaths from 1.3 to 1.0 per 100,000 children by the year 2000 using a combination of engineering, enforcement and education measures. In 1996 there were 1.1 child pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 children aged 0 to 14. Since then we have launched the `Kerbcrafe initiative designed to encourage local communities to play a part in helping young children to understand the importance of road safety. Improving child safety will be one of the issues addressed in the road safety strategy exercise announced on 15 October.