Cycling to school not so safe

Dropping children to school in a car is more risky than sending them in auto-rickshaw or RTC bus

If you think dropping your ward at school in a car is safer than sending him or her in an auto-rickshaw or RTC bus, think again.

Findings of a recently published study in the journal ‘Injury Prevention’ suggest children commuting to and from school in school bus are less likely to report injuries than those using other means of commute. For the study, 5,726 children across 16 mandals of Hyderabad district and one mandal of Ranga Reddy district were surveyed. While commuting by school bus seemed to be safest option, as indicated by the percentage of children reporting injuries, cycling to or from school seemed the most unsafe.

“This is not to suggest that cycling itself is unsafe, but the injuries suggest road conditions may make it unsafe for school-going children,” said the study’s author. Shailaja Tetali, an associate professor at Indian Institute of Public Health.

Of the 324 school-going children commuting on bicycles, 33 per cent reported sustaining injuries during commute in the 12 months preceding the survey, which began in 2015. To understand and account for socio-economic factors, Ms. Tetali surveyed children in private, semi-private, and government schools.

“Parents know that travel by school bus is the safest means, but not everybody can afford it. We found that children studying in semi-private and government schools used public transport or walked to school,” she said.

Significantly, of the 3,445 children who walked to school and back home, 17 per cent reported sustaining injuries that prompted to miss school for at least a day. Around 16 per cent of the 160 children whose parents drove them to school also reported injuries, while 20 per cent of the 454 children who commuted on a two-wheeler reported injuries. Thirteen per cent of 370 children who reported using autos, a popular form of transport for school children in urban and rural areas, also reported injuries.

Interestingly, the study also found that the incidence of injuries was the highest among children living 1 to 3 kilometre away from school, suggesting these children are likely to bicycle or use other riskier means of transport.

Calling for more research to explore causal relationships in the study’s findings, including why autos seem safer than cars, Ms. Tetali said the study has adequately shown the need to make roads safer for children walking and cycling.

“Pavements in all areas are essential. This way children living close to schools will at least spend half hour safely walking and get the required daily exercise as recommended by the World Health Organization,” she added.

Parents know that travel by school bus is the safest means, but not everybody can afford it.

Shailaja Tetali,study’s author