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With the school run accounting for almost a fifth (18 per cent) of car trips during term time, the rush hour will seem considerably quieter next week when approximately 80,000 Hampshire school children take part in Walk to School Week. In the UK, half of primary school children don't walk to school regularly and 41 per cent of pupils are driven in cars - a trend that is on the increase. Although sometimes unavoidable, being driven to school every day has a negative impact on children's general road safety knowledge as they are unable to learn it first hand from the back seat of a car. Hampshire County Council's road safety team will be supporting this national campaign by walking to school with pupils from Haselworth Primary School, Stone Lane, Gosport, and pupils from Merton Infant School, Romsey Close, Popley Way, Basingstoke, on Monday morning (19 May) to discuss with them traffic dangers and to encourage them to pay special attention to the different types of street noise as they walk to school. After arriving at the school, road safety officers will be taking an interactive assembly with the school children to discuss the various traffic sounds they hear on the way to school and show how they link with the Green Cross Code. The County Council's Executive Member for Environment, Cllr Mel Kendal, said: "Many more parents take their children to school by car than on foot as it's often quicker and more convenient. "But walking offers independence and flexibility, and the more children walk, the more confident and responsible they become about road safety. More importantly they become familiar with roads and traffic dangers, making for a better understanding about their own road safety when they are taught the Green Cross Code in class." Walk to School Week takes place from 19-23 May inclusive. |
