Professor urges motorists to avoid danger by slowing down in built-up areas
A LEADING paediatrician has cautioned Irish drivers to slow down in built-up areas in a bid to save children’s lives.
A study published in the Irish Medical Journal has revealed there has been a dramatic fall in the number of under-15s dying or being injured on our roads over the past two decades. However, the number of pedestrian injuries involving young people has risen slightly over the same period.
Alf Nicholson, a professor of paediatrics at the Children’s University Hospital in Temple Street, said while a change in attitude has resulted in a major drop in most road-related injuries, there was still concern about children being knocked down by cars.
He added: “One issue which is still contentious is pedestrian injuries in built-up areas.
“The international literature is very clear. Essentially if you are travelling at 30kmh, which is really quite a slow speed, you’ve got a very low chance of serious injury to a child if they are knocked down by a car.
“But as you go to 50 or 60kmh the rate of serious injury and death rises dramatically.”
The study, which was co-authored by Prof Nicholson, found the number of children killed on Irish roads fell by nearly three-quarters in the past two decades.