Analysing road fatalities impacting children aged 0-17 in the case of Gauteng: 2015-2017 Aliasgher Janmohammed (Ali), M Vanderschuren and S Van As

Childsafe NGO organisation established in 1978. Aim to reduce and prevent intentional and unintentional child injuries of all severity through research, advocacy and education. Injuries include burns, falls, drowning, poisoning and road traffic injuries

Contents Background Child Demographics and Travel Statistics (Gauteng) Findings (Gauteng) Implications Questions Presentation divided into four main parts

Definition of a Child Definition varies around the world depending on culture and society SA Law describes a child as anyone from the age of 3 to 14 We use the definition given in the Convention on the Rights of a Child (1989) “A child is someone under the age of 18”

Background Why focus on children1? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Roads are playing areas for children to interact with friends across the street and they should be able to freely use them without any danger 1. Someone under the age of 18 years (Convention on the Rights of a Child, 1989)

Background Why focus on children1? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users One stop solution for all 1. Someone under the age of 18 years (Convention on the Rights of a Child, 1989)

Background Why focus on children1? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users Children are at a physical disadvantage as they cannot be seen from a certain height. Also limited cognitive abilities (Zeedyk et al., 2002) Limited cognitive abilities that prevents them from understanding our complex traffic system. Zeedyk found that when a child was told to cross a road, majority of them did not look out for traffic and those that did, looked at the wrong direction. 1. Someone under the age of 18 years (Convention on the Rights of a Child, 1989)

Background Why focus on children1? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users Children are at a physical disadvantage as they cannot be seen from a certain height. Also limited cognitive abilities (Zeedyk et al., 2002) In South Africa, children use the road alone. Create the road safe for children to use alone 1. Someone under the age of 18 years (Convention on the Rights of a Child, 1989)

Background Why focus on children? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users Children are at a physical disadvantage as they cannot be seen from a certain height. Also limited cognitive abilities (Zeedyk et al., 2002) In South Africa, children use the road alone. South Africa has: High road fatality rate per 100 000 population South Africa is in a difficult situation in terms of road safety, it has one of the highest road fatalities in the world Source: Peden et al. (2013)

Background Why focus on children? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users Children are at a physical disadvantage as they cannot be seen from a certain height. Also limited cognitive abilities (Zeedyk et al., 2002) In South Africa, children use the road alone. South Africa has: High road fatality rate per 100 000 population Double the world road fatality impacting children (Matzopoulos et al., 2004) A child living in SA is twice as likely to be killed on the road than any child around the world

Source: Vanderschuren and Zuidgeest (2017) Background Why focus on children? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users Children are at a physical disadvantage as they cannot be seen from a certain height. Also limited cognitive abilities (Zeedyk et al., 2002) In South Africa, children use the road alone. South Africa has: High road fatality rate per 100 000 population Double the world road fatality impacting children (Matzopoulos et al., 2004) Cities with very high fatality rates per 100 000 population Cities within the country are even in a worse off situation. Bloemfontein has a rate of 50 when SA has 31,9 Source: Vanderschuren and Zuidgeest (2017)

Background Why focus on children? It is disturbing that children are not safe on our roads Creating safer roads for children could result in safety of all road users Children are at a physical disadvantage as they cannot be seen from a certain height. Also limited cognitive abilities (Zeedyk et al., 2002) In South Africa, children use the road alone. South Africa has: High road fatality rate per 100 000 population Double the world road fatality impacting children (Matzopoulos et al., 2004) Cities with very high fatality rates per 100 000 population Pedestrians still the victims because of lack of adequate infrastructure Every year pedestrians constitute the majority of road fatalities. Our roads have not been created to incorporate them Data Source: RTMC, 2016

Demographics and Travel Statistics Population Child Population (approximately 3,4 million children) Disaggregated analysis on the district municipality level. Data Source: NHTS, 2013

Demographics and Travel Statistics Population Child Population (approximately 3,4 million children) Male vs Female Child Population (equal) Statistics show that male children are more vulnerable Areas with a high male population are high risk areas for children Data Source: NHTS, 2013

Demographics and Travel Statistics Population Child Population (approximately 3,4 million children) Male vs Female Child Population Statistics show that male children are more vulnerable Trip Destinations: Where are they travelling? Education (40%) and Home (39%) trips the majority Majority of trips that children undertake are to home and to education Data Source: NHTS, 2013

Demographics and Travel Statistics Population Child Population (approximately 3,4 million children) Male vs Female Child Population Statistics show that male children are more vulnerable Trip Destinations: Where are they travelling? Education (40%) and Home (39%) trips the majority Mode Users Education: Pedestrians and Passengers equal Pedestrian and passenger user equal when accessing education. Remember passengers need to walk to access the bus stop at origin and destination Data Source: NHTS, 2013

Demographics and Travel Statistics Population Child Population (approximately 3,4 million children) Male vs Female Child Population Statistics show that male children are more vulnerable Trip Destinations: Where are they travelling? Education (40%) and Home (39%) trips the majority Mode Users Education: Pedestrians and Passengers equal Other purposes: Pedestrians and Passengers equal The number of child pedestrian and passenger users are equal when using the road for other purposes. Remember passengers need to walk to access the bus stop at origin and destination Data Source: NHTS, 2013

Demographics and Travel Statistics Population Child Population (approximately 3,4 million children) Male vs Female Child Population Statistics show that male children are more vulnerable Trip Destinations: Where are they travelling? Education (40%) and Home (39%) trips the majority Mode Users Education: Pedestrians and Passengers equal Other purposes: Pedestrians and Passengers equal Time taken to access education 62% pedestrians and 75% passengers take longer than 15 minutes Majority of children are taking longer than 15 minutes to access education either as passengers or pedestrians

Findings Children constitute 9% of road fatalities in South Africa and 7% of road fatalities in Gauteng All analysis performed from 2015 to 2017 Source: RTMC, 2015-2017 Source: RTMC, 2015-2017

Findings Children constitute 9% of road fatalities in South Africa and 7% of road fatalities in Gauteng Child pedestrians most vulnerable – 73% – followed by child passengers – 26% Pedestrian children are the victims. Cyclist make up a very small percentage, however, these are fatalities and when you consider injuries as well, most cyclist injuries are not even reported Source: RTMC, 2015-2017

Findings Children constitute 9% of road fatalities in South Africa and 7% of road fatalities in Gauteng Child pedestrians most vulnerable – 73% – followed by child passengers – 26% Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children very year. We are not doing well for 2020 Not everyone knows about where we are at when it comes to 2020. Two workshop where key speakers have asked this question and I think we need to ensure that every engineer and policy maker atleast knows where we stand Source: RTMC, 2015-2017

Findings Children constitute 9% of road fatalities in South Africa and 7% of road fatalities in Gauteng Child pedestrians most vulnerable – 73% – followed by child passengers – 26% Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children very year. We are not doing well for 2020 Majority of child fatalities occur during the week but rate is higher during weekend Source: RTMC, 2015-2017

Findings Children constitute 9% of road fatalities in South Africa and 7% of road fatalities in Gauteng Child pedestrians most vulnerable – 73% – followed by child passengers – 26% Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children very year. We are not doing well for 2020 Majority of child fatalities occur during the week but rate is higher during weekend ‘After-school’ activities place children at a greater risk Children walk to school unaccompanied since the mother is busy cooking or helping family. Source: RTMC, 2015-2017

Findings Children constitute 9% of road fatalities in South Africa and 7% of road fatalities in Gauteng Child pedestrians most vulnerable – 73% – followed by child passengers – 26% Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children very year. We are not doing well for 2020 Majority of child fatalities occur during the week but rate is higher during weekend ‘After-school’ activities place children at a greater risk Cars, Minibus taxis (VKTs?) and Light duty vehicles placing road users at risk We have a tendency of blaming MBTs for everything. Doctor appointment story Source: RTMC, 2015-2017

Implications Considering the fact that road fatalities impacting children increased over the three-year period, the Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children every year.

Implications Considering the fact that road fatalities impacting children increased over the three-year period, the Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children every year. Pedestrian children are the victims. With walking to school, back home and to access PT, the roads that enable child pedestrians to access these locations need to be made safer.

Implications Considering the fact that road fatalities impacting children increased over the three-year period, the Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children every year. Pedestrian children are the victims. With walking to school, back home and to access PT, the roads that enable child pedestrians to access these locations need to be made safer. Given the findings of vulnerability based on time of the day and weekday, the focus of child road safety needs to also include safety on roads used for ‘after-school’ activities within the child’s neighbourhood. When children walk from school during weekday and events during 4-7 pm during weekends places children at risk

Implications Considering the fact that road fatalities impacting children increased over the three-year period, the Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children every year. Pedestrian children are the victims. With walking to school, back home and to access PT, the roads that enable child pedestrians to access these locations need to be made safer. Given the findings of vulnerability based on time of the day and weekday, the focus of child road safety needs to also include safety on roads used for ‘after-school’ activities within the child’s neighbourhood. Interventions around education and enforcement need to focus on car and minibus taxi drivers in order to curb violation of traffic laws

Implications Considering the fact that road fatalities impacting children increased over the three-year period, the Gauteng roads are becoming more dangerous for children every year. Pedestrian children are the victims. With walking to school, back home and to access PT, the roads that enable child pedestrians to access these locations need to be made safer. Given the findings of vulnerability based on time of the day and weekday, the focus of child road safety needs to also include safety on roads used for ‘after-school’ activities within the child’s neighbourhood. Interventions around education and enforcement need to focus on car and minibus taxi drivers in order to curb violation of traffic laws Define localised and low-budget interventions in the case of South Africa. Engage with communities Define interventions based on what will work in our communities

‘Lollipop’ Intervention Source: Amend and FIA, 2016

Questions