Streets For Life #Love30 for children in traffic

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Created: Friday, 25 June 2021 16:14

Streets For Life #Love30 for children in traffic

¿Why are they different?

 

     The 6th United Nations Global Road Safety Week, under the slogan "Streets for Life" #Love30, which Luchemos por la Vida together with other NGOs contributed to promote in Argentina in May of this year, with significant achievements, publicly launched the goal of the Reduction to 30 km/h on streets to achieve safer, healthier, greener and more livable cities.

     The most vulnerable in traffic are the main beneficiaries of this measure. Among them are the children of the world who move on foot or by public or private transport. As pedestrians, young children under 8 years old are particularly fragile, not only because of their low physical resistance in case of being run over, but also because of their psychophysical limitations.

 

 

    What are the main physical and psychological limitations of young children:

  • They have a small stature that makes it difficult, in some situations, for them to see the place. In turn, they are less visible to motorists.    
  • The width of their visual field, their lateral vision, is reduced by almost one third compared to adults.
  • They have difficulty calculating the distances and speeds of vehicles moving on roads.
  • They are easily distractedby any stimulation, for example, a call from a friend, a ball that escapes, a dog that crosses the road, an object that falls, etc.   
  • The youngest children are not aware of the danger. They imitate their elders, unaware of the risks they take.  

     For their safety, children should always walk on streets accompanied by their elders (In Spanish) and, of course, they should lead by example, moving safely.

     Although no isolated measure can address by itself all the risks faced by pedestrians - especially children -in different environments, among the most effective are (In Spanish), for example: limiting vehicle speeds (In Spanish); separating pedestrians from traffic by sidewalks and crosswalks; increasing pedestrian visibility; responsible behavior by all road users; enacting appropriate laws regarding these measures and improving their enforcement, control and punishment for offenders.

     To protect life, there is a lot that can be done to ease walking by providing safe, reliable and accessible infrastructure for all pedestrians (In Spanish).