William Eichler 16 June 2016

Families scared to walk to school because of road safety fears

People feel frightened when they make journeys on foot or on bikes, survey finds.

A survey from road safety charity Brake revealed 38% of respondents have felt scared by traffic while out walking or cycling in their neighbourhood.

It also found 65% of people believe more should be done to make routes to schools safer for children on foot and bike.

The majority of those who took part in the survey (67%) said they would like there to be more paths, cycle paths and crossings in their neighbourhood.

In 2014, 53 children under 16 were killed and 2,029 were seriously injured on British roads. The majority (80%) were on foot or bicycle at the time.

In another study, Brake discovered 44% of drivers admit they have broken a 20mph speed limit by at least 5mph in the last year, with one in five (20%) confessing they do it every week.  

Brake is organising an event, Giant Walk, to encourage people to walk or cycle.

Gary Rae, director of communications and campaigns, said: ‘Brake’s Giant Walk is a great way for schools to highlight the need for safer roads in their communities to enable children to be able to walk or cycle to school without fear or threat from traffic.

‘Every year as part of this fantastic event, schools use resources and support from Brake to run lessons across a variety of subjects around the theme of road safety and active travel.’

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