West Midlands parents say school gates 'too dangerous' to walk to school
The 'Kids Streets' policy is being piloted in the region
We are hearing how parents in the West Midlands are reluctant to allow their children to walk to school alone, because of how dangerous the roads are around the school gates.
The West Midlands Combined Authority said it would tackle the issue by introducing a campaign, which could see limits on cars parking outside school.
What is the 'Kids Streets' campaign?
The 'Kids Streets' policy is headed by West Midlands Combined Authority’s Active Travel Commissioner, Beccy Marston.
Beccy told us part of the policy would look at reducing the number of cars outside school: "We want children to be able to walk to school without the pavements being dominated by parked cars, dangerous parking and people speeding past schools.
"We are considering putting barriers at either side of the school gates to stop the thorough-flow of vehicles being able to go past the school. Residents who want to leave their property would also be shepherded out at a low speed," she said.
Beccy said: "As a parent myself, when I get to the school gates, I am dominated by cars pulling up on the pavement and pulling off without looking. There are car doors being flung open.
"It is absolutely frightening and I can see why parents are reluctant to walk their children to school. My children ask if they will be able to walk to school alone and it is just not safe enough.
"Hopefully, in the next 12 months we will have two schools piloting this scheme in the West Midlands," she said.
Tackling obesity...
Beccy said that the 'Kids Streets' campaign would have a knock-on effect on health and wellbeing too: "We've got regionally quite horrific obesity stats in the West Midlands. Children are being driven to a lot of places instead of walking or cycling.
"We have a massive public health obligation to get children more active," she said.
For example, in Wolverhampton, a study in 2025 revealed 44.3% of Year 6 children are obese.
Benefits for parents...
Beccy told us: "It would free up time for parents too. A lot of their day is filled around drop off at school time, pick up at after school time, extracurricular activities. You ask any parent, the majority of your week is juggling your diary around where your kids have got to get to.
"If children can get to and from school independently, that gives parents a lot more time to spend on other things. 25% of traffic in the morning is due to the school run.
"It would free up the network to enable those people to be able to get to work quicker, as well as get our children healthier and reduce the amount of accidents that are happening around the school gate," she said.