Fewer children now walking to school

Less than one in two primary school children now walk to school.

In the three years to 1991 the proportion of children aged under 10 walking to school in Britain was 62 per cent, but this has now dropped to 48 per cent according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

By contrast, the proportion of children travelling to school by car has increased from 27 to 43 per cent.

The move from walking to travelling by car is only partly explained by the fact that the average length of a trip to school has increased for primary school children from 1.3 miles in 1995–97 to 1.6 miles in 2008.

Less walking makes roads ‘safer’ and more dangerous

The fact that many children are now driven to school may go some way to explaining the improvements in British road casualty figures. Road deaths on British roads have fallen below 3,000 for the first time since records began in 1926.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “There may be fewer casualties, but if people switch from walking to cars, high levels of traffic makes streets feel dangerous and puts more people off cycling and walking”

“The increasing number of vehicles on British roads and its effect on the travel habits of children continues a vicious cycle – the more traffic there is, the more likely children are to be ferried to school by car.”