Safe route to school: 1.5 meters distance that saves lives!

In an average week, 25 children are injured on Swiss roads - many of them on bicycles. If drivers give them enough space, the risk decreases.

July 11, 2024

• 4 minutes reading time

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What's 1.5 meters?

The size of a small adult.
Perhaps the length of a table or half a lane.
Either way, 1.5 meters is not much.
And yet it can save lives on the road if we, as drivers, keep this distance from children.

A typical traffic situation in the morning: all cars are traveling close to the speed limit.
After all, there is a lot of work and a coffee machine waiting in the office.
But the children are also heading towards school alongside us.
Many of them are on the side of the road with their bikes or on a bike lane, if there is one.

The morning rush of traffic can be stressful and unsettling, especially for the youngest children.
Cars drive past them with little distance but at high speed.
And yet they have to face up to this situation: They have to learn how to behave correctly and safely in road traffic.
Just as children are learners in many other situations in life, they are also learners in traffic.

traffic quiz with competition

Children learn quickly, but ...

“Mistakes happen in every learning process,” says Raphael Hermann, police officer and head of road safety education at the Fribourg cantonal police.
Children are often distracted and forgetful.
They learn incredibly quickly, but – like every human being – often do so through their own mistakes.
In road traffic, however, this can end fatally.

Every year, 1,300 children (up to the age of 14) have accidents on Swiss roads.
Around 520 of them happen on the way to school.
This means that on an average school day there are two or three accidents.
An accident involving a child is not only stressful for the child and their family, but also for the road users involved.

According to the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention, in 60 percent of traffic accidents involving children, the children themselves are the main cause.
However, this does not make such an emergency feel any better for drivers.
In other words, it is important to prevent these accidents for the sake of everyone involved.

Traffic educators therefore also give the following rule of thumb: please give children on bicycles 1.5 meters of space when you overtake them.
“This reduces the danger for the children,” explains police officer Hermann.
Especially for younger schoolchildren, who still struggle to keep their balance and sometimes veer unexpectedly to the left in the direction of cars.

"The minimum distance of 1.5 meters applies not only to cyclists, but also to children on scooters, skateboards or on foot."

Various rules of conduct and laws

In many neighboring countries, there is already a legal minimum distance for overtaking (all) bicycles.
In Germany, for example, it is the aforementioned 1.5 meters or even two meters for trucks, in poor visibility, wind and children.

In France, a distance of 1 meter applies in urban areas and 1.5 meters outside urban areas.
In Switzerland, the law only stipulates a “sufficient distance”.
In terms of clear distance regulations, Switzerland is therefore the (traffic) island of Europe.

Critics would say: “The space on a road is limited, 1.5 meters is half a lane, how am I supposed to overtake?
Am I supposed to cross the center line?
Police officer Hermann explains: “As a driver, you have to follow the traffic rules in every situation. In this case, it simply means: drive at walking pace or at the speed of the bicycle.”

Moreover, the gap opposite the cyclist does not mean 1.5 meters from the edge of the sidewalk.
The width of the child on the bicycle, probably 60 to 70 centimeters, must be taken into account.
Regardless of whether there is a cycle lane or not.

"Children are not yet able to judge speed and distances as well as adults, so it is particularly important to keep a safe distance."

Car drivers have a responsibility

Drivers have a responsibility towards children on the road.
They must behave within the safety and riding practice limits of children who may not yet be able to ride safely.
Especially as children in Switzerland are allowed to ride bicycles on the road from the age of six.
Whether they do so is the responsibility of the parents.
They should therefore accompany their children for as long as necessary and only allow them to ride alone when the child’s abilities and the road conditions permit.

Figures show that the months in which school starts are the most problematic in terms of bicycle accidents.
This is also because school starts in the warm late summer, when people prefer to be out and about on their bikes rather than in winter.
June is the month with the most bicycle accidents in Switzerland (761).
July, August and September follow at a similar level (between 652 and 684 each).

"An anticipatory driving style and consideration for vulnerable road users make a significant contribution to road safety."

So how do you keep your distance successfully and correctly?
Find out in the video:

Interview with Dagmar Rösler, primary school teacher and President of the Dachverband Lehrerinnen und Lehrer Schweiz: “Spatial perception is still limited”.

As an educator, what do you think of the recommendation to always keep a distance of at least 1.5 meters when overtaking children on bicycles?

Dagmar Rösler:

I think it’s a good idea. As car drivers, we should always remember that children of pre-school and primary school age in particular are also learners in traffic who still make mistakes. Not only because of a lack of routine, but also because their cognitive abilities are not yet fully developed. The main responsibility must lie with the adults.

"It is particularly important to maintain a generous safety distance to ensure the safety of the youngest road users."

Dagmar Rösler

What specific skills do children of pre-school and primary school age lack in order to ride their bikes safely?

At this age, spatial perception is still limited. Among other things, sounds are therefore less easy to locate. The shorter attention span also means that they can concentrate for less time and become tired more quickly. This must be taken into account in traffic.

At what age should children start cycling unaccompanied on the road at the earliest?

There is no general answer to this question. There are also ten-year-olds who have difficulty keeping their balance on a bike. They should not yet cycle to school. In addition to technical skills, it is important that we as guardians sensitize children to road safety and that we accompany them. Only through routine do children develop a feeling for the dangers of traffic.

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