Teen Road Safety
Globally, adolescent road traffic safety has been a health issue of great importance to government departments, and according to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries are the number one killer of children and adolescents.
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The physical development of children and adolescents is not yet complete, cognition and skills have not reached the level of adults, and it is difficult to adapt well to the road environment designed for adults, so there are the following different road safety prevention strategies for children and adolescents.
Life cockpit
Use the child safety seat correctly
For the safety of young teenagers, the most important protective device is the child safety seat. From the moment the child is born, the child safety seat should be used correctly once in the motor vehicle.
The use of child safety seats has been supported by legislation: the Shanghai Road Traffic Management Regulations, revised and implemented in 2017, clearly stipulate that minors under the age of four in driving a family passenger car should be equipped with and correctly use child safety seats; Article 18 of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, revised and implemented in 2021, stipulates that parents and guardians of minors shall be equipped with child safety seats.
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Statistics prove that the correct use of child safety seats can effectively protect passengers: according to the World Health Organization, the correct use of child safety seats can reduce infant mortality by about 70% and infant mortality by about 54% in the event of a car crash.
A total of 84 countries around the world have laws governing the use of child safety seats, some of which have stricter enforcement standards, such as limiting children's height to 135 centimeters or less and the age limit to under 10 – standards known as best practices.
Therefore, it is recommended that children use child safety seats until the age of 10, choose different categories according to height, age, weight, and gradually transition to an adult seat belt after reaching a height of 135 cm.
Shield of Life
Wear a safety helmet correctly
More than 1.3 million people die globally each year in road accidents, and vulnerable people such as pedestrians, motorcyclists and e-bikes are more vulnerable to traffic accidents, with more than 50% of fatalities, and a higher proportion of youth-related traffic deaths.
Wearing a safety helmet correctly is the most effective way to protect the occupants of a two-wheeled electric vehicle or motorcycle. According to the World Health Organization, proper wearing of safety helmets can reduce the danger and serious injury of two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle occupants by 72%. Because cyclists are very easy to fall off the car after a traffic accident, resulting in serious head injury when the head hits the ground or other fixed objects, and head injury is the most important cause of death.
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If the safety helmet is worn correctly, it not only reduces the damage to the head and brain by reducing the impact of external forces on the head, but also relatively fixes the head and is not easy to shake, and the soft cushioning material inside the helmet can also absorb and decompose part of the impact force caused by the impact, thereby protecting the head.
The Shanghai Non-Motor Vehicle Safety Management Regulations, which came into effect in Shanghai in May 2021, clearly stipulate that e-bike drivers and passengers must wear safety helmets.
Barrier of Life
Conduct road safety education
Road safety education is essential for children and adolescents, and educational interventions, whether direct or indirect, by teachers and parents, can effectively improve the perception and behavior of road safety among children and adolescents.
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In addition, in order to better reduce road accidents, roads as a whole need to be planned to design safer and more child-friendly road designs, especially vulnerable groups such as walking and riding e-bikes. European countries have proven that region-wide traffic calming measures (including reducing speed, setting up traffic signs, designing pedestrian lanes, designing speed bumps, etc.) can reduce the number of road traffic injuries by 11%, and these designs require the joint efforts of multiple professional departments such as urban planning departments, road design departments, and transportation departments.