The GEM report calls for systematic solutions and a secure systems approach. (Represent)
New Delhi:
According to a new report by the Global Education Monitor (GEM), children in poorer countries with fewer means of transport are more likely to die in a traffic accident, even when they walk to school. are also disproportionately affected.
The UNESCO report highlights measures taken by several countries to reduce accidents for school children and also emphasizes the importance of traffic education for children, taking into account and their cognitive styles when using virtual reality technology.
“Traffic accidents rank as the highest or nearest among the most significant hazards. Children walking to school are not significantly affected as many schools are located along major highways and children have more limited impulse control, slower reaction times, and poorer risk perception than adults.Roading is especially dangerous in poorer countries and neighborhoods.
“Rapid, unplanned growth contributes to poor road conditions and inadequate urban transport design, putting pedestrians and other vulnerable road users at risk, especially especially in the absence of strict vehicle safety standards. Despite having much fewer vehicles, poorer countries have a much higher risk of fatal crashes and accidents,” it said.
The report cites an international road assessment program survey of nearly 2,50,000 kilometers of roads in 60 countries showing that more than 80 percent of those have traffic over 40 kilometers per hour and are used by pedestrians without sidewalks.
“Traffic education is important. The Global Initiative for Children’s Health and Mobility, coordinated and funded by the FIA, aims to ensure all children get to school safe and healthy. strong by 2030. As part of the SDG, it advocates for speed limits, possible footpaths, and bike lanes.
“Finding a safe place to cross the street is more difficult for people with intellectual disabilities, because their ability to concentrate and ignore extraneous stimuli is weaker. Road safety education should take into account their attention and cognitive styles using virtual reality”.
The GEM report calls for systematic solutions and a secure systems approach.
“Systemic solutions are needed. The Safe Systems approach to traffic planning is a promising evidence-based initiative pioneered in Sweden as Vision. Zero The organization recognizes that while serious human injury and death cannot be avoided, road system design needs to ensure that human error does not have serious consequences.
“Korea has reduced child traffic accidents by 95 from 1,766 in 1988 to 83 children in 2012 by taking a comprehensive approach that combines safe school routes, law, and safety education. road transport and measures such as free car seats for low-income households, it added.
In Kenya, the Global Road Safety Partnership and WHO have been working with the government to reduce speed limits and reduce traffic injuries among schoolchildren, the report highlights.
“Thailand’s Seven Computer Project Alliance solves the problem of more than one million children riding their parents’ scooters to school, of which only 7% wear helmets. Vehicles must have belts. Three-point safety, height-adjustable, has become the norm for other Latin American countries,” it said.
