This statistical bulletin provides information on school pupils injured in road traffic collisions whilst travelling to or from school. It gives details of the severity of their injury and their mode of travel.
The data used come primarily from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) road traffic collision database. Unless stated otherwise the figures relate to school pupil casualties aged 4-18 which occurred on a weekday, in months other than July or August, between 07:01 and 18:00 in the five years 2002-2006.
Main findings
- Between 2002 and 2006 six pupils aged 4-18 were killed, 103 were seriously injured and 1,039 were slightly injured whilst travelling to or from school.
- Of the 109 pupils killed or seriously injured (KSI), 40 were aged 4-11 and 69 were aged 12-18.
- In both age groups, the highest number of KSI casualties was for pedestrians (60% aged 4-11 and 64% aged 12-18).
- There were no fatalities involving pupils who were coach, bus or minibus passengers. Three pupils were seriously injured whilst using this mode of transport.
Mode of travel of casualties
- When looking at school pupil casualties aged 4-11, 53% were passengers of cars, 29% were pedestrians and 14% were coach, bus or minibus passengers.
- The breakdown for school pupil casualties aged 12-18 was 33% coach, bus or minibus passengers, 30% pedestrians and 29% passengers of cars.
Time when casualties occurred
- The majority of KSI pupil casualties, in both age groups, travelling to or from school occurred between 08:01-09:00 and 15:01-16:00.
Gender of casualties
- For pupils aged 4-11 who were killed or seriously injured whilst travelling to or from school, 52% were female and 48% were male. For those aged 12-18, 59% were male and 41% were female.
- Between 2002-2006, four male pupils were killed (one pedestrian and three passengers of cars) and two female pupils were killed (both pedestrians) whilst travelling to or from school.
- Of the male pupils aged 4-18 who were killed or seriously injured travelling to or from school, 53% were pedestrians and 32% were passengers of cars. The respective figures for female KSI pupils aged 4-18 were 73% and 22%.
Causation factors
- Of the 109 pupils killed or seriously injured travelling to or from school in the years 2002-2006, 64 (59%) were deemed to be responsible for the collision.
- Where the pupil was recorded as being responsible for the collision, the principal causation factors involved were ‘heedless of traffic crossing carriageway’ and ‘walk/ run movement masked’.
Pupils injured travelling to or from school in context
- Pupils aged 4-11 killed or seriously injured whilst travelling to or from school accounted for 10% of all 4-11 year olds killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions.
- Pupils aged 12-18 killed or seriously injured whilst travelling to or from school accounted for 7% of all those aged 12-18 killed or seriously injured in a road traffic collision.
- On average, there are 22 pupils killed or seriously injured each year whilst travelling to or from school (eight aged 4-11 and 14 aged 12-18). These included, on average, one fatality per year.
- This equates to a KSI rate of 17 per 100 million home to school journeys, for pupils aged 4-18, showing that a pupil being killed or seriously injured travelling to or from school is a relatively rare event.
- Almost two thirds of pupils killed or seriously injured whilst travelling to or from school, in both age groups, were pedestrians (see Table 2). However, these casualties may not have walked the entire journey to or from school. Some may have been passengers in a car or bus for most of the journey and were walking to or from the car or bus (ie a pedestrian) when the collision occurred. This level of detail would not be known from the police collision report. What is known is that 16 pupils were killed or seriously injured before boarding or after alighting a bus. These casualties accounted for 15% of all pupils killed or seriously injured and 24% of all pupil pedestrians killed or seriously injured whilst travelling to or from school.
Method of travel to or from school
- How pupils travel to or from school differs by age group. According to the Northern Ireland Travel Survey, the majority of pupils aged 4-11 travel to or from school by car.
- However, for those aged 12-18, the main mode of transport for travelling to or from school is bus.
Graphs and statistical information to support this information are available on the DOENI website 
.
Notes to Editors:
1. The percentages in this report are quoted to the nearest whole number. Due to this rounding not all percentages may add to 100.
2. Casualty data were provided by Central Statistics Unit, PSNI. Unless otherwise stated, only those pupils recorded on the casualty reporting form as being on journey to or from school have been included in this analysis.
3. Figures on the method of travel to school come from the Northern Ireland Travel Survey (Central Survey Unit, NISRA).
4. School enrolment figures were provided by Statistics and Research Branch, Department of Education. School enrolment figures relate to school years.
6. Casualty statistics quoted in this bulletin are given in calendar years e.g. 2004, 2005 etc and, unless otherwise stated,
those involved were travelling to/from school when the collision occurred.
7. Casualty severity categories are:-
- Killed – Died within 30 days from injuries received in a collision.
- Serious Injury – An injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an ‘in-patient’, or any of the following injuries whether or not the person is detained in hospital: fractures, concussion, internal injuries, crushings, burns, severe cuts and lacerations or severe general shock requiring medical treatment.
- KSI – casualties killed or seriously injured as described above. This statistic is most often used by the UK and European Union to monitor and report on road traffic casualty trends and patterns.
- Slight Injury – An injury of a minor character such as a sprain, bruise or cut not judged to be severe, or slight shock requiring roadside attention.
8.Hard and electronic copies of the ‘Home to School Travel’ Statistical Bulletin are available free of charge from:
Central Statistics and Research Branch,
Room 4.10,
Clarence Court,
10 - 18 Adelaide Street,
BELFAST BT2 8GB
Telephone: (028) 9054 0390
E-mail: CSRB@drdni.gov.uk
