Improving road safety in the UK is a major priority for government. In 2000 the UK government, Scottish Executive and National Assembly for Wales produced a joint road safety strategy - Tomorrow's Roads: Safer For Everyone - which set out casualty reduction targets to be achieved by 2010. The key target relating to improving child road safety is to reduce the number of children killed or seriously injured in road accidents by 50 per cent by 2010. A number of previous research studies have demonstrated that certain groups of children with Additional Support Needs do appear to be at a higher risk of involvement in a road accident, however these studies tend to be qualitative or based on relatively small sample sizes. This study aims to address the lack of comprehensive research on the level of risk which children with Additional Support Needs face on the roads, the way in which road safety education is taught to these children and young people, and how effective these methods are. The study aimed to: * Investigate travel patterns of children with Additional Support Needs * Identify the road safety requirements of these children * Put forward recommendations on how these needs could be more effectively met through road safety education. Although the study initially aimed to focus on all children with Additional Support Needs, the scope of the study was subsequently narrowed to 'examine the ways in which road safety education can be improved for children and young people who have difficulty in understanding information; learning skills; and coping independently'. It was agreed that the study would focus on the road safety needs of children and young people with mild to moderate learning difficulties - including where appropriate young people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( ADHD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorders. (Author/publisher)
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