LONDON, England - Each day more than 500 children are killed and thousands are injured in traffic crashes globally, figures which the UK Royal Society for the Prevention for Accidents (RoSPA) is determined to help reduce as part of an international initiative.
Safety charity RoSPA is backing the third UN Global Road Safety Week from May 4 - 10 2015, which aims to highlight the plight of children on the world’s roads.
The hashtag #SaveKidsLives will be used to promote the campaign on social media and encourage people and organisations to sign the Child Declaration for Road Safety declaration, developed with children from around the world.
'ACTION NEEDS TO BE TAKEN'
Part of the UN declaration reads: “We are children. In the future we may have a say but right now it’s up to you to help us. Action needs to be taken as soon as possible or many children won’t have the chance to grow old enough to have their voices heard.
“And here’s where you, our leaders and other adults can help us, by joining this call for action to make sure all children can travel in safety.”
Once signed, users are asked to take a #Safie - a picture of themselves displaying a placard with their own road safety message - and post it online.
RoSPA’s road safety manager Nick Lloyd said: “RoSPA is delighted to be a signatory of Global Road Safety Week. The safety of all children, while they are travelling on the roads across the world, is something that needs to be highlighted so a series of concerted actions are taken to make their journey safer.”
The programme will be officially launched at RoSPA’s Road Safety Conference, held in Birmingham, England on March 11 2015.
Meanwhile, here in South Africa, the slaughter of the innocents continues...