Background
Pedestrian injury is a substantial cause of child injury with seven child pedestrians aged between 5 and 16 years killed and 349 injured in NSW in 2005 (Source: RTA).
Each year there are about 1000 CTP Insurance (Greenslips) claims for children under 17 years and 15 per cent of these claims involve children who have been injured as pedestrians. Injuries range from cuts and bruising through to injuries which can affect a child's ongoing development and quality of life.
Child pedestrians are vulnerable road users in part because of their size and impulsiveness. Also a child's perception, judgment and awareness of potentially dangerous situations are not sufficiently developed to properly cope with the road environment.
Research funded by the Motor Accidents Authority (MAA) and conducted by Kidsafe NSW found that in general parent supervision decreases, particularly for children aged between seven and nine years, when they are still too young to cope safely with the road environment.
Pedestrian casualties, including child pedestrian casualties, are consistently above the average in the month of May. This grants scheme has been developed to provide for a coordinated community based pedestrian safety campaign which builds on the timely awareness generated by 'back to school' road safety activities and Walk Safely to School Day promotions.