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By SheldonDavidsonSolicitors
A study released earlier this month suggests that Manchester is home to the second-highest number of road traffic accidents involving children in the country.
Data collected by the Local Road Safety Index and insurance company AXA accounted for all incidents within a 500-mile radius of a school between 2006 and 2011.
Further research revealed that Manchester saw the fourth-highest total of serious collisions, with only London, Nottingham and Liverpool experiencing a larger number.
Within the time period studied, 85,814 children were injured on the road, amounting to 1,190 every month.
The study was designed to educate parents about road safety issues in their area, while the government has said it remains committed to reducing child road accidents. In an effort to minimise the number of children being injured as a pedestrian when being dropped off at school, many school areas have now implemented 20mph speed limits, and fines for offences such as using a mobile phone have increased from £60 to £100.
While many have been positive about the idea behind this research, some have expressed concerns that it does not go far enough.
Road Safety GB was listed as one of the parties involved in the study, but have since distanced themselves from it after suggesting that the data collected could have been presented in a more useful manner.
Vice-chair Honor Byford said that most of the figures in the final report were already freely available by other means, and indicated that she would have preferred more focused data. For example, she cited the age of those involved, times of day where the most collisions occurred and whether the accidents happened during term time as just some of the ways in which the findings could have been broken down.
If your child is involved in a road traffic accident, either as a pedestrian or passenger, there are steps you can take to secure compensation.
You can choose to make a claim on behalf of your child, and you can act as their ‘litigation friend’ throughout the case. The only circumstance where this is not possible would be if you were driving the vehicle that caused the accident.
Alternatively, if you choose not to claim then your child can speak to a solicitor themselves once they reach the age of 18. They have three years from their birthday in which to do this.
If you have any further questions about what to do if your child is injured in a road traffic accident, you can contact one of the specialist personal injury claim lawyers at Sheldon Davidson Solicitors and we will be happy to answer your questions.
We are not limited to just road traffic injury claims, Sheldon Davidson Solicitors can also assist you with many other forms of personal injury claim, so if your child was injured, for example, during a medical procedure or whilst at school, we can help you pursue a medical negligence claim or school injury claim on their behalf.
