Why we tolerate child deaths on UK roads

Earlier this year, 4-year-old Mayar Yahia was killed by a driver only metres from the park in Birmingham where she loved to play. Now her parents want to create a lasting legacy in her name, Mayar Yahia Square.

While it’s right and proper that the life of Mayar be commemorated in this way, why do tolerate the death of one child a week on UK roads?

53 years ago a little Dutch girl of about the same age was killed by a dangerous driver. The needless death of 6-year-old Simone Langenhoff lit the touch paper for a protest movement that forced radical improvements to Dutch transport planning.

Road danger in Britain kills and injures over 16,000 kids every year and the associated air pollution poisons millions more.

Our crowd-funded documentary STOP KILLING OUR CHILDREN puts a spotlight on the institutionalised apathy towards road deaths.

"The city is where people come to work, raise families, walk in the evening. It is not a traffic corridor" John Norquist

We know what it takes to build healthy and safe cities; there's an abundance of wisdom and experience out there. The reason we tolerate the child deaths, air pollution and huge financial burden caused by motorised traffic isn't a lack of knowledge - it's an absence of political will.

A rational approach to road danger reduction isn’t just about stopping the death of children, it’s about helping them to thrive. Odense is the third-largest city in Denmark and yet 81% of children ride to school, generally without their parents. Here in Britain, it’s less than 2%.

Many thousands have seen our film already. It makes for tough viewing, but please watch and share.

Stop Killing our Children from ETA on Vimeo.

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