Children take part in ‘Brake’s Kids Walk’ in bid to stop casualties on the roads

Children across the North West will be taking part in the walk

Today (Wednesday 26th June) children across the North West including in Oldham, Rochdale and Tameside will be taking part in a march to highlight the rising cases of child road casualties.

Oldham saw the greatest increase in child road casualties as 67% more children were killed or injured on roads in 2017 than in 2016 and 14% more than 2015.

The children aged between four and eleven are among more than 65,000 from across the UK taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk with Shaun the Sheep. The national project, in partnership with Ocado Foundation aims to help youngsters learn key road safety messages and calls on adults to make roads a safer place.

Three areas of the North West recorded their highest number of child road casualties for the last five years in 2017. These included Rochdale with 64 casualties and Tameside with 70.

Dave Nichols, community engagement manager for Brake, the road safety charity, said, “Every child should be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution.

Unfortunately, many kids are unable to do so because they don’t have access to simple measures such as footpaths, cycle paths and safe places to cross.

Many more must contend with fast traffic and pollution from vehicle emissions. If we want children and their families to walk in the North West, then we need to make sure their journeys are safe.

We’re delighted that so many schools and children across the region agree with us on this and are taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk. Together we can raise awareness about the issues that matter to them and help make their roads safer.”

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