The RSA are holding an international conference on children and road safety in Dublin today.

2014 saw almost three times the number of fatalities among children on our country's roads, with 14 children killed last year.

That's compared to five in 2013.

The Road Safety Authority conference will look to broaden awareness of child safety on the roads, through education, safety programmes and initiatives.

Road traffic collisions account for 36.7% of all child deaths, and road deaths are the leading cause of child mortality in Ireland, the RSA’s Annual International Road Safety Conference heard today Thursday 2 April 2015.

The greatest danger a child faces each day is when using the road: when travelling as passengers in a car, walking, or cycling.

Just under half of all children who die do so while walking and almost two out of five children killed are passengers.

Garda reports into collisions indicate that one in ten children were not wearing a seatbelt or using a child restraint.

Speaking in advance of the conference, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Mr Paschal Donohoe TD said: “Today’s conference is an important step in changing the very worrying upward trend in child injuries and deaths on our roads.

Children are our most vulnerable road users, and it is up to all of us to safeguard them on our roads.

This conference provides an important platform to share international best practice on protecting children as passengers, pedestrians and cyclists on our roads. But more than that, the findings from today’s conference will inform policy and decision making at Government level.”