Vias: every day thirteen children are injured in an accident to or from school | Education

Vias Institute is based on data from 2017 to 2021. During that period, an average of 2,250 children were injured annually in an accident to or from school, or an average of thirteen per school day.

The risk of an accident is greatest among sixteen-year-old boys. In that category, 299 victims per 100,000 inhabitants are identified. That is two times higher than for 14-year-olds and even four times higher than for 10-year-olds. After all, at the age of sixteen, young people often start to move around by other means of transport, such as the moped. Young people are also more likely to adopt risky behavior as a result of puberty. In general, boys are also more often involved in accidents than girls. For example, the risk for a sixteen-year-old boy is 50 percent higher than that for a sixteen-year-old girl.

In addition, the data also show that the risk of an injury accident among twelve-year-olds is suddenly 66 percent higher than among eleven-year-olds. Twelve years is the age at which many children start going to school independently.

Vias Institute also notes that the number of accidents on the way home is 38 percent higher than on the outward journey. Wednesday afternoon is the most dangerous time of the week, because all students leave school almost simultaneously.

Vias Institute calls on drivers to rigorously comply with speed limits near schools. You are also asked to maintain sufficient lateral distance when overtaking bicycles and to make eye contact with the crossing pedestrians at the zebra crossings.

Parents are advised to take the safest route to school with the child beforehand and to ensure that the child is always visible and wears a bicycle helmet.