REGARDING the proposed discontinuance of the lollipop (school crossings) patrols (Hampshire Chronicle, October 3, 2024), may I offer a few statistics and comments?

The UK reportedly had the highest percentage of all child road deaths of countries in Western Europe between 2008-12. More recent statistics are complicated by Brexit and Covid but in 2023 over 4,500 pedestrians aged under 15 years were killed, seriously injured, or received life-changing injuries in the UK.

Lack of children’s safety measures such as the patrol crossings near and approaching schools compel many parents without cars to accompany their children to and from school, with associated loss of time for jobs and social/domestic responsibilities.

Parents with cars feel obliged for safety to use them in the school run, causing significant congestion throughout the road network and  schools themselves, air pollution, excessive carbon use, and safety to pedestrians near schools.

Precise data are difficult to get to describe the full impacts  but appropriate figures should be obtained and published for review before a final decision is made.

Apart from statistical justification, the active cooperation at a crossing of the patrol person, children, parents and drivers enables young (and many older!) people to see and appreciate how working together can care for everyone’s safety.

John Schoon,
Sparkford Close,
Winchester

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