The Western Cape Government's Safely Home road safety programme is focusing on child road safety this October Transport Month. Safely Home has released an interactive map of young child pedestrians killed in the Western Cape this year.

This map makes the scope of fatal child pedestrian knockdowns on our roads brutally clear. We urge all members of the public to consider what part they can play to help make our roads safer for little children. Just by slowing down when driving and providing a safe example when crossing roads, we can all make a difference.

Web address/Map location: http://safelyhome.westerncape.gov.za/campaigns/1498

A link to a large version of the map is available on the page. Click map icons for details of the child’s gender and age, as well as the time and day of week that the child was knocked down and killed. All other details have been excluded to protect the identity of the victims.

Road Death Statistics:

From the 1st of January 2014 to the 31st of August 2014;

• There have been 133 child deaths (ages 0 to 19).
• Of those, there were 85 pedestrians (64%), 32 passengers, 6 motor-cyclists, 1 motor-cycle pillion (passenger), 2 drivers, 7 other.
• Of the 85 pedestrian deaths, 59 were aged 0 to 10 years of age (69.4%), depicted on the map located on the Safely Home website.

More information is available on the website, and on Twitter @WCGovSafelyHome, #SafeRoadsSafeKids. The data is provided by the Forensic Pathology Service of the Western Cape Department of Health.