Two Fifths of Children Have Had Near-Miss Travelling to School: According to a recent piece of research, more than two in five parents are aware that their children have had a near-miss traffic accident in the way to or from school. The survey, which spoke to 470 parents of five to eleven year olds in England, Wales and Scotland, found that 41% were aware that their children had been close to being involved in an accident. {Tweet This}

The group which sponsored the survey, Sustrans, suggests that traffic issues around schools are a bigger issue than ‘stranger danger’. The group wants to see speed limits reduced to 20 miles per hour across all built up areas. In addition, Sustrans also feels that local government bodies should ring fence budgets to provide cycling and walking routes in to schools – and it says new housing developments should take walkers and cyclists in to account. {Tweet This}

Two Fifths of Children Have Had Near-Miss Travelling to School

According to Sustrans, the most recent figures from the government relating to road deaths and injuries show that in 2012, 33 children under the age of 16 died in England, Wales and Scotland whilst walking or cycling and more than 1,800 were injured. Malcolm Shepherd, chief executive of the group, suggested that if an ‘entire classroom’ of pupils had been killed in a different way, there would have been a public outcry. {Tweet This}

Returning to the survey figures, some 18% said their children had experienced a motorist not stopping at a pedestrian crossing or stopping too late, 13% had said their child had nearly been hit by a speeding vehicle whilst crossing a road, and 5% said their child had actually been hit by a car. {Tweet This}

Just less than half of parents (44%) stated that their biggest worry was road safety – compared to only around a quarter (28%) who mentioned strangers as their biggest worry. {Tweet This}

According to the survey, three fifths (61%) of children would walk or cycle to school in a typical week – the majority would be escorted by their own parents or another adult.