Traffic chaos in front of the schools Now it's time to put an end to parent cabs

In Köniz, parent cabs are banned. The reason: the traffic chaos in front of the schools. Now other municipalities are following suit.

A new traffic sign in Schliern, a district of Köniz BE, is intended to prevent parents from driving their children to the Blindenmoos school by car. Despite the ban, many parents continue to do so, as the "Langenthaler Tagblatt" reports.

"I'm driving my daughter to school today as an exception," explains one mother. Another woman emphasizes that she is in a hurry and therefore took the car.

The parents' council is fighting against this habit and is already distributing flyers to raise awareness of the issue.

Dangerous traffic situations caused by parent cabs

Brigitta Blaser Weber, head teacher in Schliern BE, reports chaotic situations caused by parent cabs: "Parents stop on the sidewalk or at the pedestrian crossing to let their children out, or there are critical turning maneuvers accompanied by honking." There have been no injuries so far, but there has been some damage to metal sheets.

As a result, driving and stopping bans have been in place on the access road to the school building since the end of October. In future, parents should use the "Kiss & Ride Zone", where stops are limited to two minutes. The pilot project will be tested for twelve months.

Parents' everyday working lives have an influence

According to the "Urban Mobility Research" study from 2019, 7% of children in German-speaking Switzerland are driven to school by their parents, in French-speaking Switzerland the figure is as high as 30%. The reasons for this include the parents' daily work routine and concerns for their children's safety.

In fact, according to the Federal Roads Office, there are around two accidents on the way to school every day, with 40 percent of all serious accidents involving children occurring on the way to school. The contradiction here is that parent cabs themselves create additional traffic and endanger other schoolchildren.

Other towns are also introducing bans

Stopping bans are also increasingly being used in other towns, such as Burgdorf BE and Hasle LU. In Heimberg, the school management sent a letter to parents asking them to send their children to school on foot. Langenthal is planning a mobility concept to prevent accidents. "We don't want to wait until an accident happens to react," says principal Nathalie Scheibli. The canton of Bern is critical of "Kiss & Ride" zones. Lukas Bähler from the Civil Engineering Office sees the offer of such zones as a possible incentive for parents to bring their children to school by car.

In Köniz BE and other places, parents are increasingly being encouraged to send their children to school on foot. The campaign "I can do it. I walk." campaign rewards children for walking to school with stickers. However, Christian Burren from Köniz municipal council points out that such campaigns need to be repeated regularly, as new parents join in every year.

Alternative for the way to school

Another solution is the Pedibus: children walk to school in groups with an adult. There are around 400 such groups across Switzerland, with more and more families joining together informally. Adrian Gadient now accompanies a Pedibus group in Köniz BE. "It would be too dangerous without an escort," says Gadient. The children are often absorbed in their play and don't always pay attention to the traffic.

Social scientist Marco Hüttenmoser emphasizes the importance of walking to school independently for children's social and spatial development. An analysis of over 10,000 children's drawings showed that children who walked to school alone depicted their surroundings in more detail than those who were chauffeured. "These children are deprived of the opportunity to actively explore their environment themselves," explains Hüttenmoser.

This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content taken from AI is verified by the editorial team.