Road Safety

Safer Routes to School

The government has empowered Local Authorities to assist schools in developing School Travel Plans and Safer Routes to School programmes. Together we can make a difference to the journey children make to get to and from school by making it safer, healthier, sustainable and more interesting.

The Safer Routes to School initiative aims to promote safer, more environmentally sustainable and healthier ways of getting to and from school with particular emphasis on walking and cycling. To achieve this, we need to improve conditions (both in safety and the environment) on the main walking and cycling routes to school.

Schemes can include physical measure such as safer crossing points and may involve work within the school grounds.

Projects involve the investigation of school travel patterns usually carried out with the commitment to a School Travel Plan. This often identifies engineering and educational measures to improve safety and reduce car use on the route between home and school. These measures can be considered as part of a Safer Routes project and may include:

Pedestrian crossings, improved pavements
School zones, traffic calming, parking restrictions
Cycle routes and cycle parking
Road safety education, training and publicity
Health information
Personal security advice

Walking

If you live close enough, encourage your children to walk to school. It will help them keep fit, be alert and become more street-wise:

Provide bright and reflective clothing, supportive shoes and a back pack
For younger children, either walk with your children (it's a good opportunity to have a chat), or get together with other parents and take it in turns to accompany other children (a 'walking bus')