"We didn't have all this kit and caboodle in the past…!"
Gone are the days when children rode their bikes without wearing a helmet, when child seats for cars had not been heard of and there were no traffic-reduced zones yet - and not a moment too soon! After all, the number of children killed in traffic accidents in Germany has been falling for almost four decades, despite a much higher volume of traffic today. Technical innovation, an improved infrastructure and a society which is fully aware of these issues have contributed to this development. However, the situation remains difficult in other parts of the world where there is an acute need to catch up with regards to road safety. And one thing applies for all children worldwide: Their cognitive skills are not yet fully developed, and as a result they are still particularly vulnerable road users.
The saddle pulled out, the backrest pointing straight up, the handlebars looming up into the sky and decorated with streamers: The bonanza bike, the epitome of coolness in the playground and schoolyard alike, had been the object of desire of thousands of children in North America and Europe since the late 1960s. Anybody who thought anything of himself and could talk his parents into buying the small-wheeled semi-chopper, navigated his way through the streets of his neighborhood on it.
Four decades later, many former bonanza bike riders are now fathers and mothers themselves, and have been for a long time. And now it is their children who can be seen on wheels - on inline skates, kickboards, skateboards and of course, the bicycle. The memories which today's generation of parents have of the good old days are not infrequently tinged with melancholy; looking back, there was always enough room to play, even on the streets, and everything seemed somehow easier. Cumbersome bicycle helmets were unheard of, and when the family set off on its annual vacation, the young ones played and dozed off on the backseat without all these expensive, complicated child seats and belt systems. "Every year, when we headed off to Italy on vacation, my brother and I ran riot on the backseat because we were so bored,“ says
Oliver Mayer*. Today, he himself is the father of two children and it goes without saying that they are "firmly buckled up, even if we're just nipping around to the baker's", emphasizes the 42-year-old inhabitant of Frankfurt.
What was good yesterday, is far from being good today
"We didn't have all this kit and caboodle, and yet we still managed to grow up!" - this is a sentence which Meyer has often heard, not just from his own parents but also from desperate fathers and mothers from his circle of friends who first have to study a multitude of test reports before choosing a suitable child seat. Just set off in the car, was it really that uncomplicated back then? No, that is only half the truth, and today's parents would be well advised not to pass memories of this kind on to their children. Because even the most mundane of rear-end collisions back then sent children flying through the entire car, knocked them against seats or even flung them out the window. Anyone who takes a closer look therefore loses any feelings of nostalgia: The number of traffic accidents in which children died was never as high in pre-Unification Germany as when today's mothers and fathers were children and teenagers. The sad record from 1970: More than 2,100 children under 15 died on German roads according to the figures of the German Federal Statistical Office, and more than 70,000 were seriously injured. However, it was not just the poorly secured passengers in the car who were victims; most children met their end as pedestrians because the traffic was going too fast, the streets were not child-friendly and many a car driver did not drive carefully enough. This is because that era of individualized mass mobilization in industrial nations gave priority to traffic; children often drew the short straw and paid with their health - or even their life. The ever rising number of victims whose lives were cut short in many other countries as well in Europe and North America in the 1960s and 1970s ultimately caused society at large to do a major rethink.
Much has changed since then; in particular, cars have become much safer. The three-point seatbelt for cars was developed in the late 1950s and became more and more widespread in Europe. In Germany, new cars had to be fitted with seatbelts from 1974 onwards; in subsequent years, older cars had to be retrofitted with them. In 1978, Daimler-Benz AG's anti-lock braking system (ABS) entered mass production, and this was followed by the first airbags. More stable seats, built-in booster seats for children, improved headrests or electronically controlled brake and lane assistants, stability programs and distance control systems – passive as well as active safety systems were enhanced and became part of integral safety systems, thereby considerably expanding occupant protection systems up to today. It is hard to imagine life now without the innovations from back then. Nowadays, car drivers buckle up as a matter of course, reaching for the seatbelt almost unconsciously. But do they really? "I often find that it is my children who are raising me rather than vice versa when it comes to safety in the car," says Oliver Mayer, laughing. "And then they pipe up: 'Daddy, you haven't put your seatbelt on, you can't drive off yet!'"
Taking the foot off the accelerator
Even more protection from serious accidents in pre-Unification Germany was offered by speed limits; a speed limit of 100 km/h applied outside built-up areas from 1972 onwards, and at the time of the first oil crisis in 1973, this also applied on the autobahns, at least for a few months. However, the era when pedestrians could get from A to B more safely outside built-up areas in towns and cities was still a long way off. It was not until the early eighties that things changed with the introduction of traffic-reduced zones, also known as play streets. Just like the zones with a speed limit of 30 km/h which were tested in the small town of Buxtehude in Lower Saxony in 1983, these play streets have now become a widespread means of traffic regulation in areas surrounding schools and playgrounds, residential areas or highly frequented shopping streets. And scientists are still conducting research in order to develop traffic control systems to increase safety for everyone.
Even the drivers themselves have had to take on extra responsibility, for example with the introduction of the 0.8 drink-drive limit in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1973. In addition, road traffic regulations have forced drivers to pay more attention to children, "particularly by driving more slowly" and by "being willing to step on the brakes", e.g. in front of kindergartens and schools. The driver's license on a trial basis, introduced in West Germany in 1986, is designed to encourage novice drivers to be more careful.
Safety elements such as age-appropriate security systems in the car, helmets for bicycle riders or even schoolbags and clothing with reflectors have again increased traffic safety for children by a considerable degree. Many parents are also more careful today when it comes to letting their children out onto the street.
There are new, positive records today
The statistics prove the success of the numerous measures. Since the 1970s, the number of people killed in traffic accidents has been continuously falling in nearly all industrial nations - even though the volume of traffic worldwide has increased, even on German streets. In 1970, around 17 million vehicles were registered in Germany, and they drove over 250 billion kilometers, according to the data from the German Federal Highway Research Institute. In 1990, this figure had increased to more than 35 million vehicles in West Germany, driving a total of almost 490 billion kilometers. And in 2008, around 50 million vehicles in reunified Germany covered a good 690 billion kilometers in total.
Despite all this progress, children are still exposed to considerable danger since their cognitive and motor skills only develop gradually (see info box). Even after they have left grade school, they are - for reasons of development and psychology - often not able to recognize and correctly interpret the signals which are relevant for staying safe in traffic, and to behave accordingly. Trendy but impractical hats or caps, wearing headphones covering their ears, with the latest toy in their hand or thinking about their next test at school - all these factors lower children's perceptive skills even more. According to the German Federal Statistical Office, more than 30,000 children under 15 years of age were involved in traffic accidents on German streets in 2008, and 102 of them lost their lives.
Children are still at risk and need support – worldwide
A description of the precarious situation in developing and newly industrializing countries, who are a good few decades behind industrial nations when it comes to mass motorization and are now catching up, is given in the report of the World Health Organization WHO from last year. Of the approximately 1.2 million people worldwide who lose their lives in traffic accidents each year, over 90% come from low- and middle-income countries. And yet these countries currently account for only around half of the global vehicle population. The WHO has discovered that after respiratory diseases, traffic accidents are the second most frequent cause of death for children between 5 and 14 years of age. Reason enough for politicians and industry, parents, schools and anyone else involved in raising children to set themselves the challenge of making children fit for traffic. And to remind themselves, time and time again, what it means for adults and children today to come to terms with everyday mobility requirements. The global initiative MobileKids would like to contribute to this and is helping both children and adults to deal with topics regarding traffic safety and mobility – in order to learn with each other and from each other.
1 comment
Good.