Walking to school improves health and saves lives

A survey carried out by a car insurance company also claims that cutting commuting to school by 10% could prevent 190 deaths annually.

The findings marks the beginning of Walk to School week, which aims to encourage kids to get fit and stay safe on the roads.

"The irony is that many parents think the roads are too dangerous to let their children walk to school," said Jo Pike of the Living Streets campaign group.

"What we know now is that doing this journey by car is adding to the danger."

Increased journeys

Motor accidents during the school run cause almost 7,000 deaths and injuries a year, according to the MORE TH>N report.

It also highlights the increase in car journeys to school over the last decade - up by a third - with the number walking to school falling by 12.5%.

David Pitt, head of insurance at MORE TH>N, says the government should prioritise the new Education Bill in its legislative programme and put school run safety at the top of the agenda.

"It is shocking how much impact the school run has on the level of accidents affecting Britain's school children, which is why we agree that Walk to School Week is an excellent way of highlighting this growing problem.

"Not only will initiatives like this help to cut accidents and congestion, but they will also go some way to improving the environment and benefiting our children's health," he said.

"Whilst many parents feel it is safer to drop their children off at the school gates by car, they may unknowingly be increasing their risk."

Participating

In Gloucestershire more than 100 primary schools aim to take part in the scheme.

The county council says it will cut congestion, encourage exercise and provide practical road safety training.

"Nearly one in five vehicles on the county's roads at the beginning and end of the day are on the school run," said Anthony Meehan of Gloucestershire County Council.

"This contributes to congestion, stress and impacts on everyone's quality of life."

In Scotland, transport minister Nicol Stephen said there was a need to improve on the numbers of children walking to school. Currently 50% of Scottish school pupils make the journey on foot.

"Anyone seeing the traffic outside Scotland's schools each morning would realise that there is still significant room for improvement," Mr Stephen said.

This is a campaign that is strongly backed by teachers and by most pupils and parents.

"We have set a target to halve the number of children killed and seriously injured on our roads by 2010. The latest figures show a 38% drop in 2002 compared to the mid-1990s level."

He added that initiatives such as the introduction of 20 mph school safety zones outside every school in Scotland would be vital in helping to reach government target on accident reduction.