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Children get into the so-called parents' taxi: associations warn of risky traffic chaos (symbol image)
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Ralf Hirschberger / dpa
They're a small minority, but they're causing a big stir: 17 percent of primary school children are driven to school by their parents.
This was the result of a Forsa survey of around 1000 parents and teachers in Germany, which was presented this Thursday.
“For a school with 1,000 students, that means around 170 cars in front of the school gate.
All at the same time,” calculated Kerstin Haarmann, national chairman of the ecological traffic club VCD.
»It should be clear to everyone that this cannot work.«
The VDC had commissioned the survey together with the Education and Training Association (VBE) and the German Children's Fund.
Around 500 parents of children between the ages of six and ten and 500 primary school teachers were surveyed in July and August.
According to the survey, almost a third of primary school teachers experienced a dangerous situation in front of their own school at least once a week in the past school year as a result of parental taxis.
Eleven percent stated that they witnessed such a situation every day when parents took their children to school by car.
47 percent of the parents reported that their child currently mainly walks to school.
14 percent of the children manage to get to school by bike or scooter.
Most respondents gave convenience as the main reason for the so-called parent taxis.
This was followed by fears of letting the child go to school alone and the combination of several paths.
more on the subject
Toys: »Children are still calibrated to the car-friendly city« An interview by Haiko Prengel
School bus trouble in the country: "Fifth graders can no longer get in" by Silke Fokken
Crazy way to school: running, pushing, staying outBy Silke Fokken
Study on parent taxis: Children should be involved in traffic planning
According to the authors of the study, it is striking that the perceived perception of the traffic chaos in front of the school is significantly greater than reality.
When asked how many children are regularly taken to school by car, more than two-thirds of teachers and the vast majority of parents answered that at least one in four children is.
This makes it clear, the authors write, "that the subjectively perceived traffic volume in front of schools seems to be significantly higher than the actual volume, so there are clearly too many cars and this represents an enormous risk potential for the children".
Solution: wide, unparked footpaths
More than 90 percent of the primary school teachers and parents of primary school children surveyed believe that footpaths that are sufficiently wide and not blocked by parked cars are the solution to making traffic in front of the school safer.
They also rated traffic lights, zebra crossings, central islands or regular support from the police as helpful.
Eight out of ten respondents were in favor of encouraging children to make their own way to school.
However, the reality on the ground is different for most of the survey participants.
Only around a quarter of the teachers and half of the parents stated that there were sufficiently wide footpaths in front of the school that were not blocked by parked cars.
Safe cycle paths in the school environment are only available from the point of view of around one tenth of the teachers and parents.
A speed limit of 30 kilometers per hour is most frequently implemented in front of schools.
VCD, VBE and children's welfare organization called for safer routes to school.
Her appeal to parents: Too many cars in front of the schools are an "enormous risk potential".
The "parent taxi" must be a thing of the past.
fok/dpa/AFX