Road Safety: Children march to show importance of safer roads

Last year thousands of children took part in Kids Walk to highlight the need for safer roads

Thousands of children are taking to the streets to raise awareness for the need for safer roads.

The children will walk the streets around their school to encourage adults to make roads safer for children, so they can enjoy walking, cycling or scooting to school.

The project is run by road safety charity Brake and aims to highlight the importance of road safety, to protect children from any accidents or danger - they say more than 90,000 kids will take part.

Children aged between four and 11 will take part in short, supervised walks near their schools.

Kids walk

Shaun the Sheep is involved too, encouraging children to learn about road safety

They'll have banners and posters to raise awareness of the five things the charity Brake say children need to keep them safe near roads: footpaths, cycle paths, safe places to cross, slow traffic and clean traffic.

Official figures show that 10,125 children were killed or injured on roads in the UK in 2020.

The aim of the walk is that children also learn about key road safety rules through school assembles, lessons and activities.

It's not just about road safety but also making sure the trips are healthier and better for the planet too.

Along with the walk, Brake are encouraging children to ask local or national decision-makers, such as MPs to make the changes needed to improve road safety.

The charity is also calling for road safety to be added to the school curriculum, for all children, as currently there isn't any guidance for teaching road safety in schools.

Scott Williams, from Brake charity said: "It's every child's right to be able to walk in their community without fear of traffic and pollution. It is vital that children can walk safely in the places where they live."