Make road safety education a core part of the national curriculum

Road crashes are the leading cause of death and serious injury for children and young people aged 5-29 worldwide.* 

On average, five people are killed and 80 more are seriously injured on Britain's roads every day.**

Yet road safety education is still not a compulsory part of the school curriculum.

From the moment they are born, children interact with roads in many ways, such as travelling as passengers, walking, cycling or using scooters. Road use is a fundamental part of everyday life, but children are not systematically taught how to keep themselves safe, become respectful and responsible road users and share the road with others.

At present, road safety learning in schools varies hugely - from a single assembly to a brief cycling course - with no national standards, no agreed syllabus and no accountability. This leaves millions of children without the knowledge and skills to protect themselves and others.

Road safety is included in the revised RSHE (Relationships, Sex and Health Education) guidance, which comes into effect in September 2026, but only in a limited way. This brief mention does not yet provide the depth of learning needed or reflect the scale of the issue.

On September 25, 2025, the 2024 road casualty data was published by the Department for Transport. The figures highlight a worrying pattern of casualties being sustained year after year.

This continuing level of harm, particularly affecting children, needs to be urgently addressed.

In 2024 alone on Britain's roads:

• 64 children aged 0–16 were killed in reported road collisions
• 13,112 children aged 0–16 were recorded as road casualties***

There is no other subject more directly linked to saving children’s lives than road safety. Yet it still sits on the margins of education policy.

We are calling for:

• Age-appropriate, compulsory learning programmes - From the start of primary school and throughout secondary school
• Preparation for the driving age - Young drivers remain the most vulnerable road user group, with 24% of fatal or serious injury collisions in Britain involving 17 to 24-year-olds.**** We must start educating well before children reach driving age. 

Parents play a vital role in reinforcing good habits - but they can also pass on unsafe behaviours. Schools need the resources and mandate to teach road safety consistently and effectively so we can create generational change.

This petition has been launched by Councillor Liz Childs (Barton-le-Clay and Silsoe), in partnership with Brake, the road safety charity; Road Victims’ Trust; Frankie & Neeve’s Road Safety Academy; Good Egg Safety and Vision Zero Communications;

Failing to take road safety education seriously is a failure of our duty to protect children.

Please sign and share this petition so that road safety becomes a structured, significant part of the national curriculum.

Thank you.

*World Health Organisation
**Brake, the road safety charity
***Department for Transport
****Protect Young Drivers