Each year 32 000 people younger than 25 years in the WHO European Region lose their lives to road traffic injuries, making this the third leading cause of death. Among them, about half those younger than 15 years die as pedestrians, whereas those 15–24 years old predominantly die as car or motorcycle users. Children and young adults need special consideration as vulnerable and inexperienced road users. This booklet highlights some of the factors that put young people at increased risk of serious road crashes. These include speed, alcohol, not being conspicuous, not using crash helmets, seat-belts and child passenger restraints and road and vehicle designs that do not have built-in safety features increase the likelihood. To counteract this relentless daily toll, many cost-effective interventions have been proposed. There are a wealth of experience in the European Region and opportunities to learn from it. (Author/publisher) This document is downloadable from: http://www.euro.who.int/informationsources
Samenvatting