RoSPA’s driveway safety survey to remain open until January

There is still time for parents, carers and relatives of children under the age of seven to contribute to research aimed at reducing the number of children killed or injured by vehicles on driveways.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents launched the research earlier this year after identifying a number of cases which suggested that as many toddlers were being killed by vehicles on driveways as in collisions when they were passengers in cars travelling on the road.

An online survey - at rospa.com/childrenincars - will now remain open until after Christmas, closing on Monday, January 4, 2010.

The survey, which participants complete anonymously, is gathering information about incidents involving children on driveways from parents, carers, guardians, grandparents, friends and relatives of under-sevens.

It includes questions about times when children have followed adults on to a driveway without the adults realising and when vehicles have been manoeuvred on driveways, with drivers unaware that children were close by. It also addresses in-car child safety, asking whether children have ever been left alone in vehicles and whether children have ever got hold of the car keys without adults knowing.

RoSPA began looking into the safety of children in and around cars after it was approached by the family of a toddler who was killed when he was struck by a car on the driveway of his home near Inverness. The family of 17-month-old Iain Goodwill, who died in 2007, is now striving to raise awareness of the issue and has set up the Iain Goodwill Trust (iains-trust.org) in the hope that it will prevent others enduring similar tragedies.

In 2007, three children aged one to two-years-old were killed when they were travelling in cars on Britain’s roads. An analysis of press reports from 2007 revealed that three children in the same age group were killed after being struck by vehicles on driveways. And press cuttings from 2008 show that at least eight children aged up to seven-years-old died after being struck by vehicles on driveways or elsewhere in the grounds of their home.

Lindsey Simkins, RoSPA’s road safety research and evaluation officer, said: “Our survey aims to raise awareness of the hidden risks posed to children by cars, particularly on driveways. It will enable us to understand how incidents happen and we will use the information to develop the very best advice to help parents and carers keep young children safe.”