It should come as no surprise that the significant drop in traffic on UK roads during lockdown resulted in a drop in casualties. In fact, there were an estimated 1,460 reported road deaths in 2020, down 17 per cent on 2019.
However, while motorised traffic dropped, cycling increased and with it the number of deaths. The average cyclist fatalities for 2017 to 2019 in April was 6 and this increased to 17 in 2020.
The figures show an increase in the number of cyclists and children killed, despite the overall reduction in fatalities.
141 cyclists were killed in 2020, up 41% from 100 deaths in 2019. The number of children killed on Britain’s roads also increased, from 49 in 2019 to 52 in 2020.
Road danger in Britain not only kills and injures over 16,000 kids every year, but the associated air pollution poisons millions more. Two years have passed since the generosity of over 200 supporters raised £10,000 for us to make a short film about road danger.
The 40-minute documentary STOP KILLING OUR CHILDREN puts a spotlight on the institutionalised apathy towards road deaths that overlooks the 24,000 people killed or seriously injured every year on British roads. We’ve spent the last 70 years making driving convenient and life inconvenient. Our love affair with the car has come at a cruel cost…
“The city is where people come to work, raise families, walk in the evening. It is not a traffic corridor” John Norquist
We know what it takes to build healthy and safe cities; there’s an abundance of wisdom and experience out there. The reason we tolerate the child deaths, air pollution and huge financial burden caused by motorised traffic isn’t a lack of knowledge – it’s an absence of political will.
A rational approach to road danger reduction isn’t just about stopping the death of children, it’s about helping them to thrive. Odense is the third-largest city in Denmark and yet 81% of children ride to school, generally without their parents. Here in Britain, it’s less than 2%.
Many thousands have seen our film already. It makes for tough viewing in parts, but please watch it and share as widely as possible.
Stop Killing our Children from ETA on Vimeo.
Ethical cover
Not only are we ethical, we campaign for sustainable transport. Sometimes that means protesting until a school gets the zebra crossing they’ve been refused or running roadshows to encourage people out of their cars, or fixing bicycles for free. We also launched Green Transport Week and helped establish Car Free Day and Twenty’s Plenty to name just a few.
We’ve been campaigning for sustainable transport in this way for over 30 years with the help of people like you. Supporting this work is easy – you simply have to take out cycle insurance breakdown cover or mobility scooter insurance and we take care of the rest. We provide an excellent level of cover while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
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