Nearly one out of every five elementary school students serve as parent taxis daily.
The ADAC Foundation, a well-known German road safety organisation, has recently commissioned a survey about school transportation. The survey, which questioned 1,000 parents of children aged between 5 and 15, revealed some interesting findings about how children are getting to school.
According to the survey, 19 percent of primary school children are driven to school every day, and another 9 percent are driven every second day. This means that a significant number of children are being driven to school by car, which could potentially limit their opportunities to learn road traffic skills.
However, the ADAC Foundation emphasises that children learning road traffic skills are not doing so in the back seat. Christina Tillmann, chairwoman of the ADAC Foundation, recommends that children manage their school journey independently. She believes that this can strengthen their safety, independence, and mutual respect in traffic.
The survey found that there are several reasons why parents drive their children to school. Approximately 22 percent of parents do so to save time, while another 32 percent cite bad weather as a reason. The majority of parents (40%) drive their children to school because they have appointments after school.
Interestingly, only 12 percent of respondents cited safety concerns as the reason for driving their children to school. This suggests that while safety may be a concern for some parents, it is not the primary reason for driving their children.
The ADAC Foundation suggests that children managing their school journey independently can have benefits for their safety, independence, and mutual respect in traffic. However, the reasons for "parent taxis" are unrealistic to reduce, according to the organisation. They consider these reasons difficult to address, but trusting children to handle their school journey independently is a step in the right direction.
Despite this, the survey found that parents who can walk, cycle, or use a scooter to get to school are the ones who mostly reject driving their children. This suggests that there may be a growing trend towards more active and independent school transportation.
In conclusion, the ADAC Foundation is urging parents to let their children travel independently to school. This not only benefits the children's safety and independence but also promotes mutual respect in traffic. While the reasons for "parent taxis" may be difficult to address, encouraging children to manage their school journey independently is a positive step towards promoting road safety.
