Children in road traffic are defined here as persons aged from 0 to 14 years. The group aged between 0 and 4 years are considered as babies and toddlers, between 5 and 10 years is the pre-puberty phase and between 11 and 14 is the puberty or early adolescence phase. Each phase within childhood is characterized, and consequently defined, by distinctive levels of physical and psychological skill. Children as road users cannot, therefore, be considered an homogenous group as their abilities or their mode of transport choice differ considerably. The following chapters will give an overview about children’s’ needs in road traffic. The first chapter gives an insight into some accident data. The seat belt usage and social aspects of traffic safety are discussed as well as the question if a decrease in accident rates reflects an increase in safety. In chapter 3 an outline of children’s mobility behaviour will be given, about the number of trips, trips purposes, choice of transport modes and how the preconditions of being independently mobile has changed. Chapter 4 deals with children’s development in relation to road safety and in chapter 5 measures and inventions how to improve children’s traffic safety are discussed. The text concentrates mainly on children as active road users. Much money is put into research to improve children’s safety inside the car as passive road users. But the aim of every traffic policy should also be to improve the traffic conditions for children as active road users, in order to support the independent and sustainable mobility of children. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting