Olympics and wet summer sees rise in child casualties Youngsters like to go outside and try to emulate their sporting heroes and the fear is that they switch off to dangers they would normally look out for, There may also have been the unhappy coincidence of some of the wettest summer weather on record, which could have contributed to the severity of some of the accidents. Neil Greig, director of research with the Institute of Advanced Motorists, voiced similar concerns. It does still highlight the need for drivers to be much more aware of the needs of the vulnerable and that would include being clued up on when there might be more kids on the street. Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Living Streets, said the latest figures bolstered the case for slowing urban traffic down. Introducing 20 mph speed limits where we live, work, shop and play has been shown to reduce child pedestrian deaths by 70% and creates a safer environment for everyone. Stephen Glaister, the director of the RAC Foundation, blamed spending cuts. Many road safety initiatives have been lost to local authority budget cuts but perhaps now is the time to question this strategy. The casualty trend for the third quarter of last year was echoed in the longer term statistics, reflecting 12 months ending in September 2012. An overall seven per cent fall in the number of deaths compared with the previous year masked a rise in the number of vulnerable road users being killed or seriously injured. The number of people killed dropped from 1,883 to 1,760, but over the 12 months there was a six per cent rise in the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured while the figure for cyclists went up by eight per cent.