The UK has one of the worst road accident records for children in Europe and having studied the issues involved it may be related to two or three aspects.

Europe generally uses 30, 40, 50 and 60 km/hr in built-up areas, thus having four choices to match to the road conditions. The UK mainly uses 20, 30 and 40 mph limits.

The European system has several advantages. Its 30 km/hr is nearly 19 mph but is used without having to build numerous road humps, saving on costs and keeping the roads user-friendly.

Its 40km (25 mph) is used for slightly higher speeds. In Australia and New Zealand, where metric is used, 40 km/hr limits are used outside schools regularly.

The UK does not generally use 25 mph limits but jumps by 50 per cent from 20 to 30 mph.

The 50 km/hr converts to 31 mph and effectively is used where we have 30 mph limits. The 60 km/hr is 37.5 mph and gains on safety compared to 40 mph limits.

In all, having four metric choices compared to three UK choices means the limits can be better matched to road conditions and results in children being safer.

The second aspect is Europeans are generous at providing zebra crossings: three, four or five in one village can be encountered, whereas over here you can travel 30 or 40 miles through several villages and not find a zebra crossing.

The third aspect is cycling provisions are more generous and generally better.

C F Clarke,

The Crescent,

Stamford Bridge, York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.