Crossing facilities are beyond belief

The UK's roads are so dangerous that children are afraid to cross them, says a harrowing new survey conducted by Transport 1650. Fliers were sent to all schools in the country, offering children free sweets and chocolate if they filled in a form nominating their local road as downright dangerous.

"The results were astonishing, and frankly very worrying indeed," said a Transport 1650 spokesman. "According to these results, the overwhelming majority of our roads are too dangerous for children to cross".

To get the best perspective on the situation, we talked to the children themselves. "Our main road is very busy", said 4-year-old Timmy from Hamchester. "When daddy sends me out to buy the paper, I find it very hard to judge the speed of the traffic. Sometimes, I wish he was there with me".

Timmy's friend 5-year-old Billy agreed. "Outside our house is a very busy main road. When we go out to play football in it, the cars are going so fast and they all beep their horns and sound very angry. It can be very scary." Billy continued, "One time, we were playing on the motorway nearby and Timmy was almost hit by a car. It was moving so quickly, it only just swerved out of the way".

Transport 1650 says enough is enough, and calls on the government for action. "These two children were happily playing a game of chicken on the M6", said a spokesman. "But the traffic is going so fast that they were in extreme danger. We are urging the government to install pelican crossings every 200 yards on all roads, particularly motorways, to allow children to have a safe place to cross."

Motoring groups have reacted angrily to the survey. "What were the parents thinking, allowing their young children to go out onto the roads on their own. These people need parenting lessons," said the RAC Foundation.

Transport 1650 responded to this by saying, "It is very sad indeed to see that the motoring lobby is unconcerned for the safety of child pedestrians, and are instead trying to blame the parents. It is becoming clear that we need a blanket 20 mph speed limit across the whole country."