Children, Transport and the Quality of Life

Road traffic has doubled in the past 20 years but far fewer children have accidents. Yet this book argues that roads have become increasingly dangerous: improvement has come by withdrawing children from exposure to traffic, thereby impoverishing their lives.

The book is based on a Policy Studies Institute conference that debated the study One False Move: A Study of Children's Independent Mobility. Surveys showed that children walked, cycled, and used public transport strikingly less and relied on the car more, and also had fewer leisure activities, in 1990 than 1971. Is traffic to …