As a parent there are a number of things that will keep you awake at night in regard to your child. You may worry whether your child will get into the best school in your catchment area and whether they will go on to pass all their exams, get into university, secure a well paid job and settle down and have their own beautiful children.

On the other hand, you may toil over whether they will they get in with the wrong crowd, wear a hoody, get issued ASBO upon ASBO and end up turning to drugs, drink and a life of crime. But quite often the last thing on your mind is whether your child will be seriously hurt in a road accident for which you will later have to make a claim for personal injury compensation on their behalf.

Horrendous �accident' figures
The Youth and Road Safety report recently released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) http://www.who.int/en warned that road accidents actually seem to be the biggest threat to youngsters as more young people are killed in road accidents than by some of the most prolific diseases in the world, such as AIDS and Cancer.

"Shockingly road traffic crashes are the biggest killer of young people. That's ahead of diarrhoea, malaria, TB and HIV," reported Dr Etienne Krug, director of the WHO's Department of Injuries and Violence Prevention.

Almost 400,000 people under the age of 25 suffer fatalities in road accidents each year and millions of others suffer debilitating personal injuries. Although most of these occur in developing countries in Africa, a surprising number also occur in the UK. According to road safety charity Brake http://www.brake.org.uk, a staggering 91 people are killed and suffer serious personal injuries on our roads every day and more than 30 of these are under 25 years of age.

The WHO's Youth and Road Safety report revealed that many of these accidents involving young people are preventable and by this very nature cannot really be deemed accidental. WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan commented, "Road traffic crashes are not �accidents'. We need to challenge the notion that they are unavoidable and make room for a proactive, preventative approach."

Many of the �accidents' involve young people playing in the street, as well as pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, novice drivers and passengers of public transport and it is thought by raising the road safety awareness of children and motorists many road accidents and resulting no win no compensation claims under the representation of personal injury solicitors could be prevented.

Road safety action in the South
Portsmouth, one of the south's largest cities, has already taken a positive approach towards preventing young children being harmed in road accidents. Road signs designed by children from local schools displayed throughout the city are part of a road safety awareness campaign that has made schoolchildren savvier when it comes to busy roads and at the same time alerts drivers of children in the locality.

It was recently announced that by May 2007 all 54 primary schools in Portsmouth will be provided with a set of high-visibility jackets for both children and teachers. The idea behind this is to keep children safe on dangerous roads as they will be more visible to motorists.

Officers from Portsmouth City Council's road safety team have stated that the bibs will be worn when children go on local field trips during school time. They may also consider suggesting that pupils wear them when travelling to and from in school, especially when walking or cycling.

WHO's suggestions for reducing personal injury compensation claims
WHO has made some suggestions of how a reduction in the number of deaths and personal injuries suffered by young people in the UK may be attained:

Kill speed � speed limits are already just 30 mph in many built-up residential areas and those roads surrounding schools but they could be reduced further.

Drink-driving crack down � more can be done to reduce the number of drink-drivers that still by-pass the law and put children and other motorists at risk.

Seat belt enforcement � there are still a considerable amount of people who resist from wearing their set belts. These safety devices are in place for your protection against personal injury and

Restrain your child � the new child restraint legislation was introduced in September 2006 stating that all children under 12 years of age and under a certain height are required to travel in regulation child seats.

Put a lid on it - Motorcycle helmets should be worn by law to protect riders from serious head injuries in the event of a motorcycle accident it is also advisable that bicycle helmets are worn.

Safe play � children should have designated areas to play in and these should be made extra safe in order to protect them against being involved in potentially fatal road accidents.

Young driver training � young, novice drivers should undergo more extensive training, such as Pass Plus [http://www.passplus.org.uk/ ] to reduce young driver car accident rates.

The Youth and Road Safety report compiled by WHO conjures up sobering thoughts for both parents and young people throughout the UK and will hopefully contribute to reducing the number of road accidents and resulting claims for personal injury compensation that are currently made.

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John Patterson, Online personal injury compensation claim specialists, with an excellent claim success rate. Call 0800 197 32 32 or visit http://www.the-claim-solicitors.co.uk/car-accident/female-drivers-and-compensation-claims.htm for more details.

Tags: road accident, world health organisation, diarrhoea, malaria, road accidents, personal injuries, personal injury compensation, countries in africa, road traffic