An unfair comparison?

[Dos_Box]

BBC News - Road risk higher among deprived children, says study

 

Basically, what they are saying is that children in my home town of Preston are at greater risk of getting injured on the roads than those living in Kensington and Chelsea. They seem to be putting this down to 'wealth' i.e. kids in the London areas spend more time indoors doing structured activities and getting driven around, whereas up here the children spend more time 'on the streets' and riding bicycles. Or what we used to call 'playing outside'.

There are also a lot of other issues conveniently not mentioned in the article which make a difference in the accident rates:

 

1. There are a lot more cars owned by younger people here than in London because there is on-street parking that does not require a financial outlay and the insurance will be cheaper.

 

2. Our roads are faster as they are less congested.

 

3. They are also narrower in the terraced areas.

 

The fact that the kids here spend more time outside and riding bicycles actually strikes me as being a good thing and should be encourages rather than keeping them indoors and then transporting them around for no good reason.

Edited August 17, 2010 by Dos_Box

[srochford]

The interview I just heard on Radio 4 made pretty much all the points you make in your first paragraph.

 

There's an awful lot of road safety stats which can be very misleading. For example we may have fewer deaths/injuries on the roads but that may not be because driving is getting better but rather because pedestrians and cyclists are staying away from the roads so are not there to be killed by motorists.

[AngryTechnician]

It truly disturbs me how not only the media, but many supposedly reputable research bodies, fail to understand that correlation does not imply causation. Certainly almost every study which has ever had results published on BBC News has failed to establish that the thing they are blaming something on actually causes it.

[Dos_Box]

Becasue of all of the BETT shows we've done over the past few years I've spent about a month living in Kensington, and the difference to Preston is HUGE! It's not just about wealth. The streets of Kensington are, to be honest, dull and child unfriendly, so it's no wonder that children play indoors or have indoor based activities. In Preston there are many small (and large) parks, playgrounds and areas for kids to play if they walk there. Some estates are perfect for street games (football etc). And I often have to drive through the poorer areas of Preston going too and from places, and the behavior of pedestrians in London is far worst than here. I wonder if someone got some research money out of this?

[AngryTechnician]

I wonder if someone got some research money out of this?

Yes, sadly they probably did.

 

Whenever I realise that someone got a bunch of money for their half-cocked study, I remind myself that it could be more nonsensical. In 2002, someone was given money to research whether or not sheep were gay. Because we really, really need to know whether our sheep are gay.

[AyatollahPies]

If there is a reason that children in Preston are more likely to get injured on the roads, it would be due to the amount of driving schools that operate there, driving through all the estates.

 

(That's where I successfully passed )

 

Anyway, there was a report over the weekend that said Kensington and other super expensive areas in London, are turned into drag strips in the summer for rich folk, whom never have to pay parking tickets as there is no way of tracing their foreign registered super cars. (It may have been the Daily Mail looking for a moan)

 

Point being, that hardly sounds like a safe environment for kids to be playing out in.

[Haptic]

I'll be honest....one slightly annoying trend I've seen is kids, mainly teens not even bothering to cross at crossings (even though the council has 'thoughtfully' placed several crossings right after roundabouts) Maybe there's more than a fair share of little oiks in our area but their swagger as they cross the road at their own pace gives me a slight indication that they know drivers will stop for them.......mostly......

[Haptic]

oh...this is Joe by the way....the other members of CP are far more forgiving behind the wheel

[Tcsltd]

Yeah I've seen kids crossing the road with hoods up Ipod in and not looking..quite dangerous when they can't hear you coming!!

[Martin]

One of the reasons why kids are at greater risk of getting injured on the roads in Preston is that drivers have to drive around staring at their speedos all of the time so that they don't get caught by the huge number of speed cameras

 

mb

[Tcsltd]

Non of them ever work though!! they are only there for decoration!!

[DrummerBoy]

Not wanting to confuse correlation with causation, but Dos_Box isn't on the roads in London that often, but is in Preston!!

[torledo]

They seem to be putting this down to 'wealth' i.e. kids in the London areas spend more time indoors doing structured activities and getting driven around, whereas up here the children spend more time 'on the streets' and riding bicycles. Or what we used to call 'playing outside'.

There are also a lot of other issues conveniently not mentioned in the article which make a difference in the accident rates:

 

that sounds about right to me. Based on what i can see in my neck of the woods. The more affluent kids do seem to be out of sight doing some structured activities..i don't know like maybe piano lessons and extra tuition to truly lock in that upbringing advantage [that's if they haven't been packed off to boarding school]...not to mention probably some supervised and structured sporting activities. there does seem to be a lot more parental involvement in activities, rather than kids being left to a degree to their own devices as we used to be.

 

Some of the less wealth off areas and it does seem there's a lot more bike riding and kicking a ball against a wall. And a lot more speed humps as a result [not just near to schools].

[Dos_Box]

Not wanting to confuse correlation with causation, but Dos_Box isn't on the roads in London that often, but is in Preston!!

 

But I do spend time as a pedestrain in Kensington for 1 week per year

[srochford]

But I do spend time as a pedestrain in Kensington for 1 week per year

 

That's why property prices are falling! I'm going to complain to someone about this :-)

[somabc]

That's why property prices are falling! I'm going to complain to someone about this :-)

 

Could Boris introduce a tourist tax (perhaps £100/day) to help the economy (and keep out everyone from the norf?)

 

I think the difference is down to lack of Adult supervision. Children in poorer backgrounds are more likely to be playing outside on their own. I have never seen *anybody* play football in the street in Kensington or Chelsea. In fact I have never seen any children hanging around street corners either. Children who grow up in K&C (by dint of being fabulously wealthy) will have access to their own garden or private gardens. They will also either have stay at home parents or a Nanny/Au Pair who spend all their time with the children doting on their every whim.

Edited August 17, 2010 by somabc