06 January 2012

Brake, the road safety charity
T: 01484 559909 E: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Primary schools are urged to sign up now for a giant event expected to involve 100,000 children marching for road safety on Wednesday 20 June 2012, during Child Safety Week.

The Giant Walking Bus, sponsored by Bridgestone, helps schools teach children about safe walking, while promoting safe driving to parents and local communities to protect children on foot.

The project raises funds for Brake's work campaigning for safer roads and supporting families bereaved and injured in road crashes.

Schools taking part get a bumper pack of resources to help them promote road safety. Everyone sets off from their school gates at 10am on the big day, completing a 500m walk on a safe route, carrying placards saying 'slow down around schools'. Schools that don't have a safe route can do the march in a playground.

There are three giant reasons to take part in the Giant Walking Bus this summer:

1/ Great summer term project on safety, health and sustainable travel: In the days leading up to the march, pupils can research traffic danger and pollution and transport choices, and make 'slow down' and 'get walking' placards and other creative resources. It's a great way for schools to meet safety and citizenship goals and promote their travel plan or healthy or eco school status.

2/ Slow down drivers and get kids walking: The march gives children a voice, helping them tell drivers to slow down and drive less to make the local community safer and greener. Brake issues a press release on behalf of all schools who register before Friday 1 June to help get life-saving messages out to the wider community through local media.

3/ Help Brake's national campaign for safer communities: Brake campaigns nationally to call on drivers to slow down to 20mph around schools and homes, and for measures to make walking and cycling safer. We also support families bereaved and injured on roads. Kids can be sponsored by family and friends to take part, helping fund Brake's work.

Every year Brake tries to beat its own record for the biggest walking bus. The record currently stands at a whopping 119,697 children marching at different locations at the same time. In 2012 Brake is hoping that the record will be smashed with more children than ever before taking part.

Children from London to the Hebridian islands take part in this giant march to say no to fast traffic, and yes to safe walking. In 2010 a horrifying 1,741 child pedestrians (under 16 years old) were needlessly killed or seriously injured on UK roads [3] The UK lags behind many other European countries when it comes to protecting children on foot. Our child pedestrian death rate per population is worse than 10 other EU countries, and eight times higher than Sweden's. Parents are more and more likely to take their child to school by car than let them walk or cycle.

The 'school run' now accounts for 21% of car trips in urban areas at peak times.

Brake is calling for government action to tackle child deaths and injuries on roads, including 20mph limits as the norm in communities and investment in safe walking and cycling facilities like crossings, pavements and cycle paths.

Katie Shephard, fundraising director at Brake, says: "In helping educators teach road safety and promote safer walking, this event brings together vital issues for schools: the safety, well-being and health of pupils and sustainable travel. By uniting on this walk, schools send out the message in local communities that road safety is important to them and crucial for the children. The event provides teachers with a valuable opportunity to teach road safety in a fun and high profile event, while Brake calls on drivers to slow down to protect children."

Andy Dingley, Communications Manager at Bridgestone says: "As the days get longer and we head into spring, the numbers of children walking and cycling to school will increase. The sole contact between a car and the road is a patch of tyre the size of a postcard. If a driver is going too quickly, they simply won't be able to respond in time to avoid a crash. By supporting the Giant Walking Bus this summer, Bridgestone hopes to help Brake make walking and cycling for children safer and help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations."

Debbie Cameron, mother of David who was killed, aged seven, when he was hit when crossing a road on his bike, says: "Children are so precious and yet so many children are killed or horrendously injured in the UK by dangerous driving. I support this event to raise awareness of the importance of driving slowly in communities and to help raise funds for such an important charity that provides such vital support to road crash victims."

Tiff Jordan, Travel Team Leader at Gorsey Bank Primary School who has taken part in the event before and is going to do so again in 2012, says: "It's a great day and we're really looking forward to taking part again and raising funds for a vital cause. The children from Gorsey Bank are aware of some of the hazards of crossing busy roads but are taking part in this event to ask drivers to 'kill their speed' to ensure safety for all."

It doesn't matter how many children take part in your bit of the event – every child counts, so Brake welcomes registrations from small as well as large schools.

To register, call the walking bus team on 01484 559909 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to www.brake.org.uk/walkingbus today!

Images for editors:
Have a look at some of the fab kids who took part last year on our flickr pages

Further info for editors:

• Traffic is the second biggest killer of children [1] and the most common cause of preventable death among children [2]. In 2010 a horrifying 1,741 child pedestrians (under 16 years old) were needlessly killed or seriously injured on UK roads [3]
• Parents are increasingly scared to let their children walk alone in Britain. The number of primary age children taken to school by car has steadily increased, from 30% in 1992-94, to 38% in 1995-97 to 43% in 2010. The proportion of 7 to 10 year-olds allowed by their parents to cross roads on their own has dropped from 19% to 16% from 2003 to 2009 [4].
• Read about Brake's Kids say slow down campaign.

For interviews with Brake, or for more images or information, call Katie Shephard on 01484 550063 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

End notes:
[1] Mortality Statistics: Deaths registered in England and Wales (Series DR): Table 8 Death rates per million population: selected underlying cause, sex and age-group, Office for National Statistics, 2010
[2] Preventable Child Deaths in England, Department of Education, 2010
[3] Reported road casualties 2010 annual report, Department for Transport, 2011 and Police Recorded Injury Road Traffic Collisions and Casualties Northern Ireland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, 2011
[4] National travel survey 2010, Department for Transport, 2011