The dangers of the ‘school run’

The school run can be one of the busiest and most dangerous times to be on the road.

New research from Sainsbury’s car insurance reveals that during the past five years, over 460,000 people claim to have been involved in an accident during the school run whilst they had a child in their car. The bank warns that many of these children could have been inadequately protected because they may not have been in correctly attached and secured child car seats or boosters.

An alarming 24% of parents on the school run are unaware of the legal requirements for securing children in an appropriate car seat or booster. Sainsbury’s Bank, which is one of only a few car insurance providers to offer new-for-old replacement child car seats after an accident, even when there is no perceived damage, as a standard feature of its policy, advises that it is now a legal requirement that any child who is under the age of 12 (or under 4ft 5in (135cm) tall) must be restrained in an appropriate car seat or booster.

Steve Johnson, Head of Car Insurance, Sainsbury’s bank said: “Our research shows that one in four of those driving their children to school has admitted that the children were not always securely fastened in a child car seat or booster. The familiarity of the route coupled by the often short distances travelled may make parents feel overly confident and therefore less aware of the dangers involved in the school run.

"As parents, we need to treat every journey in the same manner regardless of the length or familiarity of the journey and take extra care to make sure the seats and boosters are correctly positioned and fastened.

Sainsbury’s Bank’s research shows that over five million drivers in the UK go on the school run, with the busiest time being between 8.30am and 9.00am.