Italy's worrying road safety issue

A worrying trend has been identified in Italy with regard to road accidents. Data from Osservatorio 5049 ASAPS-Il Centauro reveals that serious road accidents involving children up to the age of 13 increased by 10% to 541 in 2011, causing 65 fatalities and 625 injuries. Some 69% of the victims were on board the vehicles involved. While 14 of the victims were pedestrian, five were hit while on their bike and one died in a motorbike accident. The highest number of accidents was among children up to the age of five, with 36 fatalities and 17 injuries, while 11 deaths were reported among children aged 11 to 13. Urban accidents caused 67% of injuries and 41% of fatalities among children, and accounted for a total 62% of accidents involving them. Some 128 accidents occurred on local and trunk roads, causing 20 fatalities and 162 injuries, while 41 accidents on highways caused 13 fatalities and 49 injuries, and in 36 cases the road type was not specified