According to APSI, every week more than 20 children and teenagers are killed or injured after being knocked down, making up 32 percent of all road accidents within their age group.
Most of the accidents involve youngsters aged 10 to 14, according to 2015 figures from the National Road Safety Authority, and happen in residential areas, during walks from home to school and back.
APSI’s campaign will be aired between 14 September and 4 October on cable TV channels and on radio as well as being published in magazines, local and national newspapers, on social media and on sugar packets.
It is being launched at the beginning of the new school year and aims to raise awareness among all drivers with regards to the “special vulnerability of children as pedestrians”, and the need for drivers to alter behaviours on the road that might increase the risk of accidents, such as speeding, parking on zebra crossings and double parking.
Sandra Nascimento, president of APSI, said “Walking is a child’s right, as well as being a healthy and sustainable habit. Safety and children’s mobility cannot be compromised by the excess of cars and by drivers’ abusive behaviour.”
Thousands of campaign flyers are also to be distributed by the PSP and GNR police forces’ school safety units, in the vicinity of schools, as well as by M.O.T centres that have adhered to the movement.
The campaign is backed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, by the National Authority for Road Safety and by the Authority for the Supervision of Insurance and Pension Funds.