The number of Doncaster children killed or injured on borough roads over five years

More than 600 children have been injured or killed on Doncaster’s roads over a five-year period new figures show.
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Data reveals 646 children who were either injured or killed on Doncaster’s roads since 2015.

The figures have fluctuated over the time period but from 2015, there has been a 24 per cent decrease of children being injured by a vehicle up to the latest reported year of 2019.

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But the number of children being hit by a vehicle in Doncaster rose from a low of 103 in 2018 to 127 in 2019.

The statistics, from the Department of Transport, also show that Doncaster has the seventh highest average figure for the Yorkshire and Humber region at 129.

Sheffield has an average of 170, Rotherham 85 and Barnsley 83. The highest in the region is Leeds with 267 followed by Bradford with 212.

Brake, the road safety charity said while it was encouraging that the numbers were falling in places like Doncaster, a child killed or seriously injured is ‘one too many’ and causes devastation for families.

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Council bosses said the authority has dedicated teams in place to bring about improved safety in neighbourhoods from traffic.

The charity is organising an event for schools and nurseries to join a nationwide campaign, calling for five key measures to enable children to make safe and healthy journeys: footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic.

Scott Williams, head of programme delivery at Brake, said: “It’s every child’s right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution.

“Throughout the pandemic, families have taken to the streets on foot and by bike and we hope these activities will continue as restrictions are lifted and ordinary road traffic returns.

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“It is vital that children are able to walk safely in the places where they live. Although numbers of children killed or injured in Yorkshire and the Humber show positive signs of decline, every road death or injury is one too many and causes devastation for families, schools and communities.”

Dan Swaine, director of economy and environment, said: “The number of children being injured on our roads has been falling since 2011 and we are always looking to introduce measures which continue this downward trend.

“We have a dedicated team of road safety trainers going into our schools to talk to children and we work closely with the South Yorkshire Safer Roads Partnership, including the Fire and Police services on a range of education and other initiatives.

“We have introduced speed reducing treatments including many 20mph speed limits on roads outside our schools and we are extending our, already extensive, 20mph speed limits into more areas of the borough, particularly in estates and communities where young people live and commute or travel.

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“We also urge all motorists to take extra care and drive appropriately to the conditions and the areas they are using as we strive to reduce child casualties on our roads.”

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