Preparation tip: Familiarize newcomers with school routes prior to the commencement of academic year - Engage in exercises with school-aged children
As the new school year approaches, parents in North Rhine-Westphalia are encouraged to prepare their children for safe travel to school. The Traffic Safety Association is distributing flyers in several languages to help parents and children navigate the routes safely.
In about two weeks, around 174,000 first-graders will start school. To ensure a smooth transition, safe school route practices are emphasized for new starters. Parents are advised to accompany children on the route several times before school begins. This familiarization process helps children understand traffic conditions and critical points, ensuring they know exactly where to go and how to behave safely.
Specifically for bus and train rides, safety education includes teaching children how to wait safely at bus stops and train platforms, board and alight cautiously, and behave responsibly on public transport. This preparation helps children gain confidence and reduces risks associated with starting independent travel by public transit.
Local authorities support these practices through educational initiatives. The police and education authorities often provide road safety education, sometimes using child-friendly programs such as video series to communicate traffic rules and safe behavior clearly to children.
While no explicit reference was found concerning specialized programs in North Rhine-Westphalia beyond general road safety education, the importance of parent-led route walkthroughs combined with child-centered education on public transit safety is a widely recognized best practice for new school starters in the region. This mix of familiarization and formal education builds the foundation for safe, independent travel to school.
The ADAC provides a school route guide and recommends practicing these routes with children beforehand, especially if they are traveling part or all of the way by school bus or public transportation. ADAC traffic expert Roman Suthold advises parents to choose a school route with fewer hazardous points, even if it means a slight detour.
Last year, there were almost 23,000 accidents involving children, young people, and young adults on the way to or from school, kindergarten, and university in North Rhine-Westphalia. To avoid such incidents, parents who cannot or do not want to avoid using the car should inform themselves whether there are parent drop-off points near the school. The Landesverkehrswacht recommends that parents not bring their children to school by car if possible, as it helps children learn to move independently and safely in road traffic.
The central kick-off event for the start of school in NRW is planned for Wednesday, August 27, at the Geschwister-Scholl-Grundschule in Neuss. Minister of Education Dorothee Feller (CDU) is expected to attend the event. For first-graders, school usually starts on the second day of school, allowing children in higher grades to welcome the new students with an event at school.
Movement and fresh air in the morning, as well as meeting friends, are benefits of walking to school. Suthold suggests taking enough time, discussing hazards at crossings or street crossings in detail, and praising children for doing things right. He also reminds drivers to be prepared for sudden movements towards the street, especially near bus stops. Buses with flashing hazard lights may only be overtaken at walking speed, and this applies to oncoming traffic as well. For buses driving with flashing hazard lights, there is an overtaking ban for following traffic, according to ADAC.
The new school year 2025/26 begins on this day. Last year, there was a slight decrease of around two percent compared to 2023, according to data from the NRW accident insurance fund. However, it is crucial to maintain vigilance and continue promoting safe school routes for all children.
In light of the upcoming school year, it is essential for parents to equip their children with knowledge on safe travel practices, particularly for public transportation. This includes vocational training on waiting safely at bus stops and train platforms, boarding and alighting cautiously, and behaving responsibly on public transport.
Moreover, the local community policy heavily emphasizes education-and-self-development initiatives that cater to general-news topics such as road safety, extending beyond basic road safety education to include parent-led route walkthroughs and child-centered education on public transit safety.
