Dramatic Drop In Child Cycling Injuries

ROAD safety experts at Oxfordshire County Council have expressed their delight at a dramatic fall in the number of child cyclists injured on the county’s roads.
The council is also celebrating the fact that 2006 was also a record year for the number of children taking part in the council’s cycle training scheme.
In 2006, 34 young people were injured, which is the lowest figure since 1979, and less than half the 89 children injured in 1997, when the council started keeping records. The figures are:-

1997 89
1998 70
1999 86
2000 64
2001 73
2002 44
2003 52
2004 44
2005 47
2006 34

In 2006 a record 3,657 children took up free cycle training and the the council has 700 volunteers who help deliver the scheme to largely primary school children aged 9+.
Wendy Jennings, Oxfordshire County Council Road Safety Officer, said: “I am thrilled that so many children have taken part in our training schemes and that the number of injuries has declined so much. What a credit this is to our volunteers who put in so much hard work. It must be a delight to them to learn that their efforts have had such an impact.”

Councillor David Robertson, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “It cannot be a co-incidence that the number of children trained has gone up while the number of injuries sustained has plummeted. This is an example of forward planning and thinking providing value for money for people in Oxfordshire as well as safeguarding our communities.”