SUVA, May 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of nine children lost their lives to road accidents in Fiji in 2018 alone while a six-year-old child has been the latest victim this year.
Fiji's Land Transport Authority (LTA) launched its six new Road Safety Posters for the Kids Safe Awareness Campaign targeting children from the ages of 4 years old to 13 years old on Tuesday as the second school term started on Monday.
LTA confirmed that out of the nine fatalities, three were passengers while six were pedestrians. The youngest victim last year was a two-year-old child.
LTA said that the Kids Safe Awareness Campaign urges parents, guardians and family members to play an active role in raising awareness about the importance of road safety in Fiji to help reduce road trauma.
This initiative is aligned to the Fiji Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 National Action Plan on Road Safety Education to reduce the number of road crashes and fatalities.
Team Leader Road Safety Education Watilala Fonu said the focus for Kids Safe Campaign this month teaches children basic road safety measures such as safe crossing places, traffic signals, behaviour in a vehicle and on the roads, visibility on the roads and proper use of seatbelts and helmets.
Speeding continues to be the leading cause of road fatalities in the island nation, a statement issued by the Fijian police said earlier. The statement said there was an urgent need for drivers to change their attitude towards speeding. Drunk driving is also a concern in Fiji as it is the second highest cause of road fatalities last year.
Police said besides drivers, pedestrians are also the cause of accidents.
According to Fiji's Land Transport Authority, motor vehicle registrations have been growing significantly in Fiji over the last few years with an average growth of 9 percent from 2015 to 2016.
