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41 children died on our roads last year. Almost half the injuries came after 3pm

Qurexa Editorial Team27 September 20266 min read 0 0
41 children died on our roads last year. Almost half the injuries came after 3pm

What happened

On 24 September 2026, the Department for Transport published its road casualty statistics for Great Britain, including a factsheet on children aged 0 to 15. The figures for 2025 are these. 41 children were killed. 2,391 were seriously injured. Together that is 2,432 children killed or seriously injured — a figure shortened to KSI. A further 9,147 were slightly injured, giving a total of 11,579 child casualties. Children made up 8% of all people killed or seriously injured on the roads, and 3% of all deaths. Half of child KSI casualties — 50% — were pedestrians. Car occupants were 20%. Pedal cyclists were 17%. Children aged 12 to 15 accounted for almost half of all child KSI casualties. Numbers were comparatively low among younger children and rose through later primary school and early adolescence. Looking across 2021 to 2025, 68% of child KSI casualties were boys and 32% were girls. The timing figures are the ones most parents will want. On weekdays, 46% of child KSI casualties happened between 3pm and 5.59pm. Only 12% happened between 8am and 8.59am. Around three-quarters of child KSI casualties occurred on weekdays. The government is measuring progress against a 2022 to 2024 baseline, working towards a 70% reduction in child KSI casualties by 2035.

Why this matters

One number in this release deserves to be read twice: 46% against 12%. Almost half of weekday child casualties happen in the three hours after school. Just one in eight happen during the morning rush. That is not what most people assume. The morning school run feels like the dangerous bit — it is rushed, it is dark in winter, everyone is late. But the morning is supervised. Parents walk with children. Timings are tight and predictable. The afternoon is different. Children leave at roughly the same moment in large numbers, often without an adult, frequently distracted, sometimes with friends, sometimes on a phone, sometimes crossing where it is convenient rather than where it is safe. They are tired. Drivers are tired too. The age pattern fits this exactly. Casualties rise through later primary school and peak in the 12 to 15 group. That is precisely when children start travelling independently. Independence is good for children — and it comes with this cost. The pedestrian figure reinforces it. Half of seriously hurt or killed children were on foot. Not in cars. Not on bikes. Walking.

What the evidence actually says

The location data makes the school-run point concrete. For children aged 6 to 11, 70% of KSI casualties happened within 500 metres of a school appropriate for their age. For 12 to 15-year-olds, it was 36%. That difference tells you something useful. Younger children are hurt close to school. Older children are hurt further away, because they travel further — to friends' houses, to shops, to the bus stop, across town. Across 2021 to 2025, around three-quarters of collisions involving a child KSI casualty happened on urban roads, and 23% on rural roads. Rural roads carry far less traffic, so a quarter of casualties on them reflects how much more dangerous each rural mile is: higher speeds, no pavements, no street lighting, blind bends. That is directly relevant in Lincolnshire. At weekends the pattern flattens out. 30% of weekend child KSI casualties fell in the 3pm to 5.59pm window, compared with 46% on weekdays — which is what you would expect when there is no single moment at which thousands of children step outside at once. Two honest caveats. These are casualties in collisions reported to the police, so very minor incidents are under-recorded. And the factsheet presents high-level trends based on KSI figures; the department notes that more detailed analysis is possible using the road safety open datasets. The factsheet does not give month-by-month breakdowns. One more thing worth saying plainly: 41 child deaths is 41 too many, and it is also far fewer than it was a generation ago. Both facts are true.

Practical advice

The data points at a specific window. Use it. 1. Focus on the walk home, not the walk there. If you are going to practise a route with your child once, practise the 3pm to 6pm version — when they are tired, in a crowd, and you are not there. 2. Teach crossing where they actually cross. Children take the shortest route, not the safest. Walk their real route with them and agree the crossing points on it, rather than the ones you would choose. 3. Talk about phones and headphones directly. Crossing while looking at a screen or unable to hear traffic is the behaviour most worth naming. This matters most for the 12 to 15 group, who make up almost half of all child KSI casualties. 4. Give younger children specific rules near school. Seventy per cent of KSI casualties among 6 to 11-year-olds happened within 500 metres of a school. That immediate area is where the rule needs to be clearest — including not stepping out between parked cars. 5. If you drive, treat 3pm to 6pm near schools and on residential streets as a different kind of driving. Slower, hands off the phone, expecting someone to appear from behind a van. Most drivers involved in these collisions were not reckless. They were normal drivers in the wrong three hours. 6. On rural roads, assume you cannot be seen. High-visibility clothing and lights genuinely work on unlit lanes with no pavement, and children walking on country roads should walk facing oncoming traffic where there is no footway. 7. Get cycle training if you can. Bikeability is offered through many schools and councils, often free. Pedal cyclists were 17% of child KSI casualties, and training is one of the few interventions aimed squarely at that group.

What to know

In 2025, 41 children aged 0 to 15 were killed on Britain's roads and 2,391 were seriously injured, giving 2,432 killed or seriously injured. Total child casualties came to 11,579. Half of the children killed or seriously injured were pedestrians. Car occupants were 20% and cyclists 17%. Children aged 12 to 15 made up almost half of all child KSI casualties, and 68% of casualties across 2021 to 2025 were boys. The most actionable finding is the timing. On weekdays, 46% of child KSI casualties happened between 3pm and 5.59pm, against 12% in the 8am hour. Seventy per cent of KSI casualties among 6 to 11-year-olds occurred within 500 metres of a school. So the afternoon, not the morning, is where attention is most needed — and the area right around school is where it matters most for younger children. The government is working towards a 70% cut in child KSI casualties by 2035, measured against a 2022 to 2024 baseline. Sources: Department for Transport, 'Reported road casualties Great Britain: child casualty factsheet', 24 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-child-casualty-factsheet ; Department for Transport, 'Reported road casualties Great Britain: child casualty factsheet, 2025', 24 September 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-child-casualty-factsheet/reported-road-casualties-great-britain-child-casualty-factsheet-2025 ; Department for Transport, 'Road safety statistics', https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-safety-statistics This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.

#road safety#children#DfT statistics#school run#pedestrians#cycling

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