“It’s every child’s right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution.”
That’s the message from Brake on this year’s Kids Walk.
The annual event – previously known as the Giant Walk – will see approximately 90,000 children from more than 600 schools walk in pairs in crocodile formation within their community, aiming to raise awareness of the need for safe spaces to walk.
They will carry banners and posters provided by Brake to help raise awareness of the five things they need to help keep them safe near roads: footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic.
Schools will also run special road-safety-themed assemblies, lessons and activities, using free resources featuring Shaun the Sheep and his friends.
Ahead of the event, Brake is highlighting ‘the true extent of child casualties on the nation’s roads’.
Figures show that 10,125 children were killed or injured on roads in the UK in 2020; while an average taken from the last five years gives a figure of 14,696. This means that, on average, 40 children die or suffer injuries as a result of road crashes every single day.
Scott Williams, head of programme delivery at Brake, said: “It’s every child’s right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution.
“It is vital that children can walk safely in the places where they live. We’re delighted that so many children, schools and families are taking part in Brake’s Kids Walk 2022 and shouting out for the things they need to make safe journeys.”
Brake has also provided schools with a manifesto for safe and healthy journeys that they can use to help ask local or national decision-makers to address their local road dangers.
The manifesto calls for road safety to be included on the curriculum for all schoolchildren as there is currently no statutory guidance for teaching of road safety in schools.
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