Parents not bothered to ensure that kids wear helmet while going to school in two-wheeler: Study

It also emerged that a worrying 30% of children witnessed a crash during their commute to school

A sizable number of parents who take their children to school in two-wheelers are not bothered to ensure that they are wearing helmet while commuting, says a study conducted in 14 major cities in different parts of the country.

"Total 34 per cent of the respondents using two-wheelers surveyed had not ensured their they or their children were wearing a helmet while commuting via two-wheelers," the study titled ' Safe Commute to School.' said

The study with a sample size of 11,845 children, parents and other stakeholders carried out by Save Life Foundation and Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India.

The survey was conducted in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Pune, and Vijayawada.

"It also emerged that a worrying 30 per cent of children witnessed a crash during their commute to school, while 6 per cent of them were themselves involved in a road crash or a near-miss situation during their commute to and from school," says the study.

Overall, school bus was most preferred mode of transport for commute (33 per cent of the children), followed by school van (12 per cent). It was also found that 11 per cent of the children also commute to school by walking. "Across all cities, the school bus was the most used mode of commute. The largest number of respondents whose children commute to school by walking were found in Mumbai and Bengaluru," says study.

The study also highlighted gaps in the safety standards of school zones too. "Total 47 per cent of the surveyed respondents whose children cycled to school reported no cycling paths en route or even around the school. 30 per cent of parents whose children walked to school reported missing footpaths around the school zone," says the study.

More than half of the parents surveyed stated that school authorities took no action on the safety concerns reported to the school authorities. These issues included overcrowding in school vehicles, congestion near the school, and over-speeding by drivers in the school zone.

“Findings through this report have once again emphasised that the right to a safe commute to school is as important as the right to education itself," Save Life Foundation Founder & CEO, Piyush Tewari, said.

Watch latest videos by DH here: