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In the UK the most disadvantaged in society are more likely than those more affluent to be injured or killed in a road traffic collision and therefore it is a major cause of health inequality. There is a strong link between ethnicity, deprivation and injury. Whilst national road traffic injury data does not collect ethnic origin the London accident and analysis group does in terms of broad categories such as 'white', 'black' and 'Asian'. Analysis of this data revealed the over-representation of child pedestrian casualties from a 'black' ethnic origin. This information led road safety practitioners in one London borough to map child pedestrian casualties against census data which identified the Somali community as being particularly at risk of being involved in a road traffic collision. Working with the community they sought to discuss and address road safety issues and introduced practical evidence based approaches such as child pedestrian training. The process evaluation of the project used a qualitative approach and showed that engaging with community partners and working across organisational boundaries was a useful strategy to gain an understanding of the Somali community. A bottom approach provided the community with a sense of control and involvement which appears to add value in terms of reducing the sense of powerlessness that marginalised communities often feel. In terms of evaluation, small projects like these, lend themselves to a qualitative process evaluation though it has to be accepted that the strength of this evidence may be regarded as weak. Where possible routine injury data needs to take into account ethnicity which is a known risk factor for road casualty involvement which needs to be continually monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to take a holistic perspective to explore levels of cycling and opportunities and barriers to increase children’s safer cycling in disadvantaged areas in England. The study was one part of a larger study which explored the factors underlying the high level of road traffic casualties especially among children in the most disadvantaged areas of England and to explore how this impacts on mobility and quality of life. The methods involved a cross sectional survey comprising school based questionnaire surveys with children aged 9–14 and focus groups with parents who had children within this age range. The surveys were conducted in 2007 and the focus groups during 2008. 4286 children completed the survey and eight focus groups were held. Bike ownership (77%) was high, use in previous week moderate (39%) but only 2% cycled to school. Ownership was significantly lower in minority ethnic groups. Despite young children’s strong preference to travel by cycle (30%) than walk or go by car, most parents felt it was too hazardous. It is unlikely that these findings would be any different from the rest of England, however the combination of environmental and social factors may elevate the risks for young cyclists in these areas. This paper concludes that a number of barriers exist to increasing levels of cycling among children living in disadvantaged areas particularly amongst ethnic groups. These barriers could be addressed by environmental modifications to reduce speeds and by reducing the levels of antisocial driving and riding in residential areas and around destinations where children travel, by providing cycle training to improve children’s skills and parent’s confidence, and by providing secure storage facilities for bikes. Until these barriers are addressed it is unlikely that cycling will increase despite the strong preferences children have to travel by bike. Such preferences to cycle provide an opportunity for local authorities to act on. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]