Poll: Do you let your children make their way to school on their own?
Just a quarter of parents say the route between their home and primary school is safe enough for children to walk or cycle unsupervised.
It comes as more than 100,000 children and their parents recently took part in the annual Giant Walk event which is organised by road safety charity Brake. It aims to highlight road safety awareness and the benefits of walking.
Parents cited high volumes of traffic, lack of safe crossings and lack of safe footpaths or cycle paths as the main reasons for not letting their children walk or cycle to school on their own.
The poll of 1,000 parents with children aged five to 11 also showed that 12 per cent of parents talk on mobile phones or speed while on the school run, while 23 per cent do not stick to 20mph limits around homes, schools or shops.
The Giant Walk involves schools getting their pupils to take part in a supervised crocodile walk on safe pavements or round the school's grounds. Brake is campaigning for widespread 20mph speed limits. The charity is also highlighting the fact that 46 per cent of primary school children are driven to school, contributing to congestion, poor health and traffic danger.
Brake deputy chief executive Julie Townsend said: "Recent reports have provided a stark warning about the potential consequences of the UK slipping further into a spiral of physical inactivity.
"The impacts will be felt hardest by our children, who could face a lifetime of poor health and have to pick up the bill for rising healthcare costs. This crisis can be averted, but we need urgent action.
"As is clear from the thousands taking part in our Giant Walk, kids love to get out and about on foot and bike, and parents want to be able to let them.
"It is a national scandal that danger from fast traffic often prevents children from having the fun, active, healthy childhoods they deserve."
