Fear of Poor Parent Driving Limits Walking to School

Fear of Poor Parent Driving Limits Walking to School: According to new education market research findings released to coincide with national Walk to School Week, almost one in five (39%) parents of five to eleven year olds (i.e. primary school aged children) in Great Britain said traffic was dangerous during the school run. A similar proportion (42%) has witnessed aggression between adults as part of the school run.

Fear of Poor Parent Driving Limits Walking to School

Fear of Poor Parent Driving Limits Walking to School

The survey, carried out with 1000 parents from England, Wales and Scotland on behalf of the Living Streets charity, found that almost two thirds of respondents would support introducing car-free zones outside primary and secondary schools, as well as limiting road speeds to 20 mph in surrounding areas.

According to the survey, parents’ biggest fears outside schools were speeding traffic (30%), strangers approaching their children (23%) and unsafe parking by other adults (17%).

Three quarters (76%) suggested that the government should encourage more children to walk to school, with the vast majority agreeing that David Cameron and the Government should commit to improving children’s health and fitness (95%).

Four fifths of the parents surveyed supported introducing schemes to support parents in helping their children walk to school – for instance Living Street’s ‘Park and Stride’ initiative, which provides a safe car parking area for parents around 10 minutes from school, and then families are encouraged to walk the remaining distance.

Of the parents surveyed, around two fifths said they usually drove their children to school whilst just over half (56%) said that they normally walked to school. However, the most recent survey for the Department for Transport, carried out in 2013, suggests that only around 46% of children regularly walk to school. According to the survey carried out for Living Streets, only 7% of children walked to school alone.


 

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