F&I Management & Training

At the start of the UN's Global Road Safety Week, 6-12 May, which urges action to protect pedestrians, UK schools are calling for steps to enable kids to walk in their area without being endangered - adding to growing calls for all our communities to ‘GO 20' by switching to 20mph limits.

A survey out today by the charity Brake and Hampson Hughes Solicitors of 500 UK primary schools [1] reveals teachers are deeply concerned about pupils' ability to walk or cycle to school safely. So much so that more than three in four (77%) feel compelled to actively campaign to make local roads safer for kids.

Nine in ten schools (92%) think local roads need to be made safer for children to walk and cycle and eight in 10 (81%) want 20mph limits around the school and on routes connecting the school with local homes. Only one in 10 schools (12%) say they already have 20mph limits.

During Global Road Safety Week, Brake, alongside a GO 20 coalition of 11 charities, is calling for steps to enable children to walk or cycle without fear or threat from fast traffic: 

See below for evidence on how 20mph limits improve safety and encourage active lifestyles.

Every day in the UK, 12 children are run over and hurt when walking or cycling to or from school and two of these children are killed or suffer serious, sometimes life-long, injuries [2]. Death on the road is the biggest non-medical killer of school aged children in the UK, greater than drowning, falls or accidental poisoning combined [3]. Across the globe, traffic kills more five to 14 year olds than malaria, diarrhoea and HIV and Aids [4]. Road danger is also a major barrier to kids' mobility and health; many UK parents do not let children walk and cycle to school because of fear of fast traffic [5].

Julie Townsend, Brake's deputy chief executive, said: "Schools know what's important for kids, and they are telling us road safety is a massive issue for them. It's telling that so many schools are actively campaigning for safer streets, showing there's a lot more we can do to protect children's right to walk and cycle safely. It's not acceptable that children continue to be hurt and killed daily on our roads, and it's a sad state of affairs that many are prevented from walking or cycling because of traffic danger.

"One of the best ways to protect kids on foot and bike is to slow maximum traffic speeds to 20mph around homes, schools and shops, to create a safe haven for walking and cycling. ‘GOing 20' makes our communities nicer places to be, enables people of all ages to get out and about on foot and bike, improves health, and saves lives. As the UN's Global Road Safety Week kicks off, we are appealing to government, local authorities and drivers around the UK to put children's safety and wellbeing first, and GO 20."

Lisa Pearson, marketing and business development manager at Hampson Hughes Solicitors said: "It is incredibly important for Hampson Hughes Solicitors to be able to support Brake and the GO 20 campaign, as well as being involved in positively affecting the safety of the country's school children. Unfortunately we are well aware of the consequences of road traffic collisions, particularly those involving children being run over, through our personal injury law service and the clients we represent through this. We know how important road safety is and Hampson Hughes Solicitors is keen to see the 20mph speed limit implemented to areas around schools, homes and shops - we are confident that this reduction in driving speed will result in safer roads and a reduction in serious injuries and fatalities for our children and our communities."

Caroline Tyson, head of school, London Fields Primary School, Hackney, said: "We are delighted to support Brake and the GO 20 campaign. We were so pleased to get a 20mph limit and other road safety measures installed in our area, and we have seen an increase in children cycling to school as a result. But there are so many more schools around the country battling for basic measures to protect children on foot and bike. Reducing the speed of the traffic can only help to further encourage children and families to walk and cycle which, along with other awareness-raising initiatives we run at school, helps to build a better community."

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Hackney Council Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said: "I am delighted to welcome Brake to Hackney where the Council's commitment to safe roads for cyclists and pedestrians has seen all residential streets in the borough become 20mph limits. Alongside free cycle training for school children, awareness training for drivers, and safety-led road planning, this measure is helping to save lives and encourage even more parents and children in Hackney to walk and cycle."

DATED: 01.05.13

FEED: HA