Lisbon, May 22, 2026 (Lusa) - Around 2,000 children were victims of road accidents in Portugal in 2025, according to data from the National Republican Guard, which also indicates that, in the first four months of 2026, more than 500 accidents involving minors were recorded.
This Saturday marks National Child Safety Day, and Lusa requested data from the police on the number of child accident victims.
The police recorded in 2026, up to 30 April, “529 victims of road accidents”, including two fatalities, with 106 involving bicycles, 356 involving cars and 67 involving pedestrians.
In 2025, the police recorded 1,271 children as victims of road accidents while travelling as passengers, 75 more than in 2024.
Meanwhile, accidents involving children on bicycles rose from 325 to 406 victims in 2025, whilst the number of pedestrians hit rose from 234 to 236 between 2024 and 2025.
The data also indicates that accidents in which children were travelling as passengers remain the majority of incidents in these two years, followed by accidents involving bicycles and pedestrian strikes.
The accidents the police reported relate to incidents involving children aged between 0 and 16.
According to the police, 14 children or young people under the age of 18 died between 2020 and 2025, three of whom died in 2025.
Six children died as a result of falls, five from drowning, two from choking and one from strangulation.
As for the location of the incidents, the police noted that “private homes account for the highest number of incidents” with nine incidents, public roads and educational establishments both with two incidents, and water leisure facilities with one incident.
The police said that these accidents occurred among children aged 0 to 17, with a higher incidence in the younger age groups.
When contacted by Lusa, the Association for the Promotion of Child Safety (APSI) warned that “drownings remain among the most serious accidents involving children, occurring mainly in swimming pools, wells and tanks”.
The association launches an annual drowning prevention campaign in July, a month in which the highest number of child drownings occurs.
According to the police, there were 11 drowning incidents with three deaths recorded in 2024 and five incidents with no deaths in 2025 in the areas the police patrolled.
“Protecting a child does not mean constantly watching over them and ensuring nothing happens to them. Real prevention does not stem from an adult’s constant fear. Effective prevention begins with building the child’s independence,” said a statement from the Child Safety Association.
The police also recommend combating “the false sense of security in the home”, encouraging “the adoption of preventive measures, namely the use of physical barriers and maintaining active supervision”.
CAZV/MYAL // AYLS
Lusa
