7. Child Casualties (Table 4 and Table 7) 

7. Child Casualties (Table 4 and Table 7) 

7.1 There were 759 child casualties reported in 2019 representing 10% of all casualties (759 out of 7,594) and an increase of 5 (or 1%) from 2018. Of these, 2 died, 1 less death than in 2018. Both of the children killed in 2019 were pedestrians. The numbers of fatalities are small, so care should be taken when drawing conclusions from year-on-year changes and trends should be looked at over the longer term. The three-year average used to monitor progress against the Road Safety Framework targets shows individual years as fluctuating around the longer-term trend [Table 7].

7.2 There were 331 child pedestrian casualties recorded in 2019. They accounted for 44% of all pedestrian casualties of all ages (331 out of 759). Of the child pedestrian casualties, 122 were seriously injured (2 died). The number killed was the same as 2018.

7.3 In 2019, there were 303 child casualties in cars, 7% of all car user casualties (303 out of 4,557). Of the child casualties in cars, 46 were seriously injured (none died). In 2019, there were 68 child pedal cycle casualties (12% of the total of 564 pedal cycle casualties of all ages) including 24 who were seriously injured, there were no children killed on pedal cycles in 2019, the same as 2018. 

Table 4: Child casualties by built-up and non built-up roads, mode of transport and severity, 2017-2019 and 2004-08 average
Mode of Transport Built-up roads Non built-up roads All roads
Killed Serious All Killed Serious All Killed Serious All
Pedestrian
2004-08 average 4 210 976 2 9 21 6 218 997
2017  1 104 392 1 3 9 2 107 401
2018  1 93 328 1 3 6 2 96 334
2019 3 prov. 2 118 325 0 4 6 2 122 331
% change on 2018 3 * .. -1% * .. * * .. -1%
on 04-08 average 3 * .. -67% * .. * * .. -67%
Pedal cycle
2004-08 average 2 27 194 1 2 9 2 29 203
2017  0 8 63 0 2 4 0 10 67
2018  0 13 60 0 2 4 0 15 64
2019 3 prov. 0 22 63 0 2 5 0 24 68
% change on 2018 3 * .. 5% * .. * * .. 6%
on 04-08 average 3 * .. -67% * .. * * .. -67%
Car
2004-08 average 1 18 316 6 44 353 6 62 670
2017  0 10 188 0 19 140 0 29 328
2018  0 7 158 0 22 158 0 29 316
2019 3 prov. 0 18 156 0 28 147 0 46 303
% change on 2018 3 * .. -1% * .. -7% * .. -4%
on 04-08 average 3 * .. -51% * .. -58% * .. -55%
Bus/Coach
2004-08 average 0 3 68 0 0 20 0 3 88
2017  0 0 54 0 0 20 0 0 74
2018  0 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 19
2019 3 prov. 0 0 23 0 0 6 0 0 29
% change on 2018 3 * .. * * .. * * .. *
on 04-08 average 3 * .. -66% * .. * * .. -67%
Other
2004-08 average 1 9 39 0 3 23 1 13 62
2017  0 4 13 0 3 17 0 7 30
2018  0 1 10 1 1 11 1 2 21
2019 3 prov. 0 2 14 0 2 14 0 4 28
% change on 2018 3 * .. * * .. * * .. *
on 04-08 average 3 * .. * * .. * * .. -55%
All child casualties
2004-08 average 7 267 1,593 8 59 426 15 325 2,019
2017  1 126 710 1 27 190 2 153 900
2018  1 114 575 2 28 179 3 142 754
2019 3 prov. 2 160 581 0 36 178 2 196 759
% change on 2018 3 * .. 1% * .. -1% * .. 1%
on 04-08 average 3 * .. -64% * .. -58% * .. -62%

1 Figures for 2018 and earlier years may differ slightly to those previously published due to late returns, or corrections to earlier returns.

2 * indicates that a percentage change is not shown because the denominator is 50 or fewer. 

3 Due to changes in severity reporting, the number of serious casualties cannot be compared directly to those reported in previous years. These % change figures for serious casualties have therefore been omitted.