Government failing to protect our children

5.28.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 3rd Oct 2006

Welsh Liberal Democrat Enterprise, Innovation and Networks spokesperson, Kirsty Williams, has slammed the Assembly Government for its failure to help local communities protect themselves from dangerous drivers.

Ms Williams said: "I have been to too many public meetings where frightened communities are desperate for speed cameras, engineering measures or more police enforcement because they do not feel safe in their own towns and villages. The ridiculous bureaucracy surrounding these measures mean that local people are often denied the help they need until lives have been lost on a particular stretch of road.

"The roll-out of 20mph zones outside of schools has also been far too slow, and there is a real problem with the shortage of lollypop men and women. The child road death rate in Wales is higher than England or Scotland; the Welsh Assembly Government has nothing to congratulate itself on."

Notes:

§ Ms Williams was speaking in today's debate in plenary on road safety.

§ Key statistics include:

• 1.5 child road deaths per 100,000 population in Wales, compared to 1.3 in England and 0.8 in Scotland

• 7 children died, and 128 were seriously injured on Welsh roads in 2005

• Death on the road is the second biggest killer of 5-14 year olds after cancer/ other types of tumor