School's back and police and road safety experts are urging parents and motorists to be extra-vigilant as youngsters across the region start the new school year.
Authorities say parents should talk to their children about road safety and pedestrians and drivers need to be alert, especially near schools.
Among those children will
be many going to school for the first time.
Police said children walking, biking or using scooters were not good judges of distance between themselves and oncoming vehicles and urged drivers to be patient.
Glenda Leitao, Horizons Regional Council road safety co-ordinator in the Wanganui district, said police research showed the number of child-pedestrian accidents increased dramatically during the school term hours of 7.30am-9am and again between 3pm-4.30pm.
Ms Leitao said drivers needed to be aware that a child's perception of traffic and their ability to judge traffic speed was simply not as well developed as that of adults.
"Children are smaller and are more easily distracted so they are particularly vulnerable to accidents on the road.
"Driver responsibility is just as important as teaching young people about road safety and many pedestrian injuries and deaths could be avoided if drivers simply slowed down."
The speed limit for vehicles is 50km/h around schools and 20km/h when passing stopped school buses.
Inspector Peter Baird, road policing manager, said many children would have received new bikes and scooters at Christmas.
"If they're riding these to school this year, we want parents to ensure their children are wearing helmets and know the basics of road safety before heading to school."
He added that parents should also consider providing children with backpacks and jackets with reflectors as they were an excellent way to help motorists see children.
