Secondary school children are most at risk from bus accidents on their way home from classes, according to government research.

Researchers found that children aged between 11 and 14 made up two-thirds of all bus accidents during journeys to and from school, with the majority being boys aged 12 or 13.

The study, carried out by private consultants, looked at the role of buses in accidents in which children were killed or injured as pedestrians on journeys to and from school.

It found that most of the youngsters involved in accidents on schooldays between 1 January, 1999 and 31 December, 2000 were running after getting off a bus on their way home.

Lewis Macdonald says road layouts need reviewing

However, Deputy Transport Minister Lewis Macdonald said the number of fatal and serious injuries among children had declined by more than 35% since the mid-1990s.

He said the Scottish Executive was determined to reduce that further and halve the number of children killed or seriously injured on Scottish roads by 2010.

Mr Macdonald said: "Eleven to 14-year-olds are particularly vulnerable because of the transition from primary to secondary school.

"Many children will have further to travel to and from school.

"The research says that local authorities might wish to review existing school bus contracts and routes to assess the scope for minimising road crossings. "

Accident records

He added: "More must also be done to give our young people the road sense to stay safe."

Mr Macdonald said the findings would be used by the Scottish Road Safety Campaign to help develop new road safety education resources for schools.

Experts from private firm Colin Buchanan and Partners carried out the research by examining accident records.

It found that of 1,231 child pedestrian casualties injured during school travel hours, 150 accidents involved a bus.

A total of four children were killed in these accidents while 53 were seriously injured and 111 were slightly injured.