PARENTS who drive primary age children to school are creating a generation of youngsters with poor road sense who are more likely to have serious accidents on their way to secondary school, a Government-funded report has found.
Children who have not practised walking to primary school fail to learn traffic awareness and are more likely to be hurt crossing the road later in their educational career, says the report published tomorrow by the road safety charity Living Streets
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In the report – 'Backseat Children' – Living Streets cites the latest UK road accident statistics from the Department for Transport, which show that an 11-year-old starting secondary school is almost twice as likely as a 10-year-old at primary to be killed or seriously injured while walking to school.
'Backseat Children' also claims the school run denies children the chance to interact with their local community and develop independence.
The number of children in Scotland walking to school since 1999 has declined by 3%; the number travelling by car has increased by the same amount. Currently, 144,000 Scottish pupils – 21.5% – travel to school by car every day, compared with 6% in 1984. One in five cars on the roads in peak hours is on the school run.
Living Streets, set up to improve Britain's walk-to-school rates, says the UK has one of the worst safety records in Europe for child pedestrians, and almost 20% of casualties occur on the way to or from school.
"As the natural instinct of a parent is to protect, many young children are being driven to school to keep them safe," the report said. "Ironically, this causes havoc around many schools when a high number of cars arrive at the same time, putting these children and other pedestrians at risk."
But the biggest problem is the creation of a generation of 'backseat children', who because they are being driven to school are failing to develop an understanding of road safety.
"Children who have not practised walking to school at primary level have less chance to develop road safety awareness and are therefore more vulnerable when they walk to school independently at secondary level," said the report.
It also reveals the results of studies in four primary schools – two in Scotland – on the road sense of 10-year-old pupils who walk, compared with those are driven in.
"The children were asked to draw maps of their route from home to school," it says. "Tellingly, those travelling by car provided detailed drawings of the area around their home and school but frequently complained they could not remember the 'middle bit' of the journey. The walkers' maps included the most detail, including pavements, crossings and shops."
Living Streets spokeswoman Lucy Abell said: "We found this quite worrying, and then, when we looked at the statistics and saw this huge leap between the numbers of 10-year-olds killed and seriously injured and 11 and 12-year-olds, we thought it was shocking. Our view is that you can't separate out the fact that more children are being driven to school from this big leap in casualties once they are given their independence.
Abell added that parents should walk their children to school from as early an age as possible. "There is no substitute for real life experience in learning to cross the road safely and, if you set a good example, your child will copy you. It is crucial to walk the route to school with children and talk to them about where the risks are and where it is safe to cross the road and why."
Most parents questioned said they tried to walk their children to school if possible, but it often depended on how far away they lived. Fiona Alderson, who has two children at primary school in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, said: "My children's school is really close by so we always walk.
"But it depends on locality whether or not walking to school is an option. Some drive because their child has been bullied on the bus, others because they are worried about accidents and others because the school is on their way to work."
Jo Beaumont, a mother of three, from Hillhead, Glasgow, said she always walked her children to school until they were able to travel alone.
"It usually took about 20 minutes to get there. A lot of parents would probably like to walk with their child, but they don't have the time."
One school that has succeeded in increasing walk-to-school rates is Duns Primary in the Borders. Before it started experimenting with small gifts such as sharpeners, pencils and stickers, around a third of its pupils were driven to their classrooms.
Headmistress Kathleen Easton said: "The trial has got a lot of children especially excited about walking to school. It is harder for some because they live far away, but everyone is now aware of the health and environmental benefits of walking."
In a jamOn an early spring morning, the Glasgow neighbourhood of Hillhead is so quiet you can hear the birds sing. But come 8.40am, outside Notre Dame Primary, and all that changes.
The slow trickle of vehicles down the narrow one-way street turns into a steady flow as cars pull up at the kerb, doors are thrown open and children disgorged.
"Sometimes we'll walk, but for the little one it is just a lot easier to drive," said Zekra Raman, a parent who lives a mile away in Broomhill.
The traffic problem is compounded by the narrow width of the street, which was built for horses, not 4x4s.
Headteacher Margaret Gordon says a high percentage of pupils do not live nearby. With no free council transport, driving is sometimes the only way to get to school.
Another parent, who lives four miles away, said: "There isn't a very good bus route for them to take. And I would never let my daughter cycle alone. It's too dangerous with all the traffic."
The full article contains 1010 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
