Road Safety Isn't Just About Teaching Kids—Drivers Need to Step Up Too

As children across the country return to school, parents’ feeds are full of advice on how to keep our children safe on the roads by teaching them how to cross properly, wear bright clothing, be alert, always look both ways, and so on.

Important advice, no doubt. But here’s what’s missing from nearly all these conversations: the role drivers play in keeping kids safe on our roads.

I’ve walked my children to school every day for the past 13 years. And I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen dangerous, thoughtless, or rushed driving—often by parents doing the school run themselves.

We focus on training children to navigate roads safely. But what if we focused on safe driving behaviour as well??

Let’s Shift the Focus

The idea for this blog has come to me from things I have witnessed on an almost daily basis during my walks to and from school:

• 🚫 Cars parked on zigzag lines or double yellows, blocking sight-lines for children (who are shorter than the average adult)

• 🚫 Pavement parking, forcing kids into the road

• 🚫 Drivers stopping on pedestrian crossings, as they squeezed through the traffic light, but clearly with no hope of clearing the crossing

• 🚫 Turning into roads without yielding to kids waiting to cross

• 📱 Drivers distracted by phones

• ⚡ Excessive speeding near schools

These are often accepted as minor infractions, and acceptable behaviour on the part of drivers who ‘need’ to park somewhere, squeeze through that orange traffic light in order to get where they need to go on time and so on. 

But these ‘minor’ infractions have real consequences. According to the UK Department for Transport, nearly 40% of child pedestrian casualties occur during the school run hours (DfT, 2021).

And still year after year we are putting the onus on children to "be careful”, instead of holding adults accountable for their actions behind the wheel.

Let’s shift the focus on driver accountability, especially during the school run! Children—especially under 11—are still developing road awareness and depth perception (RoSPA, 2020). That means adults need to do the heavy lifting when it comes to safety.

So here’s a Message for Fellow Parents Who Drive

Yes, mornings are hectic. Yes, we’re all juggling a lot. But that’s no excuse for dangerous shortcuts. So, a few reminders as the school year kicks off:

• ✅ Slow down—especially near schools, where we know children will be walking

• ✅ Never park illegally, even “just for a minute” - this includes near crossings, turns, on pedestrians crossings, on zig zag lines

• ✅ Stay off your phone—no call or message is urgent enough to risk kids’ lives

• ✅ Watch extra carefully for kids at crossings and give them right of way— and remember, they may not see you coming

• ✅ Be patient—those extra 30 seconds could save a life

In conclusion

Focusing solely on children's behaviour can feel like victim blaming.

So while we keep teaching kids to navigate roads carefully, let’s also start teaching ourselves to drive more responsibly.

Because children shouldn't have to be perfect pedestrians just to survive a walk to school.

What do you think? 

Do we need more driver-focused road safety campaigns? 

Have you witnessed similar issues near your local school?

Let’s start the conversation. 👇

Sources:

• Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). (2020). Child Road Safety.

• Department for Transport (DfT). (2021). Reported Road Casualties in Great Britain.

• World Health Organization (WHO). (2023). Mobile Phone Use and Distracted Driving.

• Highway Code. https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/