DOZENS of children are injured or worse on Swindon’s roads each year.

Research from road safety charity Brake revealed the number of casualties involving young people recorded around the borough – which is 56 per year on average.

Most areas in the south west reduced the amount of child casualties on their roads between 2015 and 2019, though Swindon’s figure has remained roughly the same each year, while South Gloucestershire and Cornwall have seen a rise in injuries or fatalities.

East Wichel Primary School trialled a School Street scheme in March which banned cars from parking outside the entrance during the start and end of the school day.

Headteacher Paula Phillips said the extra measures had helped children and their parents feel safer, and hoped to keep the scheme in place if given the opportunity.

She added: “It’s been fantastic, pick-ups and drop-offs are much calmer, the children feel safer when they’re outside and the ones who live nearby and can walk to and from school alone welcomed it too.

“People aren’t parking illegally, children aren’t crossing between parked cars, it’s much better.

“I’ve had no complaints, all the feedback from families has been positive and everyone respects it. This would be a great thing for many other schools to have, if possible.”

Staldon Road is cordoned off with cones and child-sized cardboard cut-outs between 8.45am and 9.30 and 2.45pm to 3.45pm on weekdays, with signs alerting motorists to the safety measure.

Lawn Manor Academy is next to the busy dual carriageway of Queens Drive.

Headteacher Sandra Muir said: “We have been working with SBC over the past year to improve safety signage around our school and this has been put in place in the residential areas where we have access.

“I would welcome more appropriate safety measures being put in place due to the volume of traffic and the volume of pupils we have crossing this road.”

At the end of its first year, the School Safe Environment Zones scheme saw the local authority use its £100,000 annual budget to support the introduction of a range of engineering, educational and behavioural measures to improve road safety at 15 schools.

This included adding time-restricted parking, ‘school keep clear’ signs and road markings, and double yellow ‘no waiting’ restrictions outside school entrances.

In March, fears were raised for the safety of pupils at Moredon Primary and Nursery School over the number of cars being parked on pavements at drop-off and pick-up times.

Head of Brake’s programme delivery Scott Williams said: “It’s every child’s right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution.

“Throughout the pandemic, families have taken to the streets on foot and by bike and we hope these activities will continue as restrictions lift and ordinary road traffic returns.
“It is vital that children are able to walk safely in the places where they live.

“Although numbers of children killed or injured in the south west shows positive signs of decline, every road death or injury is one too many and causes devastation for families, schools and communities.

“This year we hope to inspire as many children, schools and families as possible to call for safe and healthy journeys for children through our Brake’s Kids Walk event.”

Around 2,400 young people from across the south west took to the streets around their school yesterday to raise awareness of the 24 children who are killed or injured on the region’s roads every week.

Wider Wiltshire sees a yearly average of 110 young road casualties, though the figure fell from 121 in 2015 to 106 in 2019.

Devon recorded the highest number of children injured or killed on the road, with an average of 194 road child casualties per year, though its 2019 total of 160 was the lowest so far.

Bath & North East Somerset recorded the lowest amount in the region on average – 27 – and had a total of 19 in 2019.