Camden’s public safety team has been working in partnership with young people from four community organisations to establish why children from poorer backgrounds are more likely to be injured on roads.
Camden is one of seven London boroughs funded by TfL to undertake demonstration projects to address this issue, and has secured further funding for 2008/9.
The team partnered ’at risk’ communities, inviting young people to complete questionnaires and consulting with parents and peers. The aim was to gauge attitudes to road risk and make recommendations to alleviate the problem of young pedestrian injury inequality.
On 8 July, young people from all four groups gave presentations to the Walking Cycling Road Safety Advisory Group. Their ideas and suggestions included using young people who have road accidents to make a promotional DVD; using internet sites like ‘MySpace’ to deliver messages; and getting celebrities to endorse campaigns.
The project also looked at why young people take risks, what they fear most on streets, and why parents think children from poorer backgrounds are more at risk of injury.
For further information contact Fiona La Crette on 020 7974 2467.
