Parents’ worries over safety are the main barrier to children to walking or cycling to school on their own, according to a survey.

Unsafe paths and cycling routes and dangerous driving are among the reasons why many children are travelling to school in “non-active” ways, according to the online poll by transport organisation Sustrans Scotland.

Many parents want lower speed limits near schools before they would consider an alternative to dropping off their child by car.

Some 42 per cent of parents polled thought that their children considered it too dangerous to walk to school, while 31 per cent of parents themselves believed that it was too dangerous. Less commonly cited factors were the distance between home and school and parents not having enough time to walk with their children and get to work.

Restrictions on driving to school

Last year it was reported that parents faced tough restrictions on driving their children to the school gates. A survey of councils showed that many were enforcing laws to prevent parking immediately outside the school gates, using CCTV cameras and mobile monitoring vehicles in a drive to improve road safety and tackle pollution.

Some councils went further, closing the roads next to schools and imposing fines of up to £130 on parents who drove in restricted zones. Other local authorities were considering “no-idling” zones with fines for parents and carers who leave engines running outside schools.

Some 1,232 parents completed the Sustrans survey, which was carried out with help from the Scottish Parent Teacher Council.

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