On September 26, 2022, the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) published the report “Reducing child deaths on European roads”. In the report, the ETSC mentions that six thousand children have died in European traffic between 2011 and 2020. In order to reduce that number, the ETSC advocates, among other things, lower speeds and safer school routes or school environments.
In the Netherlands road safety for children has improved considerably in recent decades, although the decrease in road deaths seems to have stagnated in recent years. Compared to other age groups, children are less likely to die in traffic and are also less likely to be seriously injured in a road crash. This positive development in safety is mainly due to the increase in 30 km/h zones, the improved safety of cars for occupants and the increased use of improved child seats. Read more about this in the SWOV fact sheet Children aged 0-14.
