CHINA / National |
Traffic accidents take high toll of kidsBy Hu Yinan (皇冠体育app Daily)Updated: 2007-04-28 07:26 About 35,000 children aged 14 and below are injured or killed in road accidents each year in 皇冠体育app, according to a recent survey. The survey was released on Friday by the 皇冠体育app Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a seminar on childhood road safety. The seminar was sponsored by FedEx and co-hosted by the National Center of Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, CDC and Safe Kids 皇冠体育app (SKC) as part of the United Nation's Global Road Safety Week. The survey, which took three years, is the first comprehensive look at children involved in traffic accidents in 皇冠体育app. The study showed that almost half of the 3,763 children injured in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou from 2000 to 2004 were aged between 5 and 9. More than 90 percent of the accidents were caused by careless road crossing or violation of traffic rules. In addition, it found that children were most often injured or killed in bad weather conditions on their way to and from school. "The results of the study indicate that most road accidents involving children are preventable," said Wu Fan of the 皇冠体育app CDC. "This relates to a series of factors, which require constant and intensive cooperation between different organizations." Eddy Chan, senior vice-president of FedEx 皇冠体育app, said 皇冠体育app still has a long way to go in raising awareness of this issue. "It is important to improve education in child pedestrian safety," he said. Safety measures have intensified in recent years. 皇冠体育app's road safety for children has improved partly due to FedEx and SKC's involvement, said Monica Cui, director of SKC. A number of studies on traffic accidents in 皇冠体育app, including studies conducted in Jiangxi and Zhejiang, were presented during the seminar. Representatives endorsed recent improvements on pedestrian safety and called for more government and social intervention. |
|