A 6-YEAR-OLD boy riding a scooter was injured in a car collision in Luohu District recently. Shenzhen traffic police said that the child’s family didn’t closely supervise him when the accident happened.

Police said the boy suffered minor injuries with a gash on his left temple and some scrapes on his knees after he darted out in front of a minivan headed eastbound along a road in Taojinshan Garden residential compound on Cuiyin Road at 11:39 a.m. March 6.

Two clips captured by a CCTV camera and a dashcam from the driver surnamed Wang show that the child on the scooter dashed to the motor vehicle lane so fast that Wang had no chance to avoid the crash.

The boy was transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Wang stopped at the scene and cooperated with the police investigation.

The majority of traffic accidents involving children are related to poor adult supervision and inadequate road traffic safety education for children, according to DT News.

The road traffic safety laws and regulations stipulate that scooters, rollerblades, and skateboards are not allowed to be used on either motor or nonmotor vehicle lanes. Anyone riding scooters into a nonmotor vehicle lane will be fined 20 yuan (US$3). Riding into a motor vehicle lane will lead to a fine of 100 yuan. Riding into a highway will result in a fine of 200 yuan.

According to a report released by the Safe Kids Worldwide, a global child safety organization, each year in China, approximately 16,000 children under 15 years old were injured or killed in road accidents.

The authorities call on parents, particularly those with young children, to pay more attention to their kids while out on the road, and teach them road safety information and strategies. Adults should hold their kids’ hands when crossing the road, and prevent them from playing near traffic.

(Xia Yuanjie)