Children’s safe routes to school: Real and perceived risks, and evidence of an incapacity-incapability space

There is a general consensus that children and adolescents should ideally travel to school actively and independently. Yet, in many parts of the world, real and perceived traffic risks represent a major barrier to walking, cycling, or the use of scooters. As the perspectives of children and adolescents on perceived dangers are insufficiently understood, this quantitative-qualitative study compares injury data for 2019–2021 with questionnaires answered by school management (n=40 school managers) and focus-group interviews with students aged 6–17 (n=40) in the city of Freiburg, Germany. The triangulation indicates that a significant number of collisions and injuries in traffic appear to go unreported, and that school routes are characterized by insecurity and perceived dangers. The analysis suggests that perceptions of risk change with age, and in reflection of influences including cognitive ability and motor skills, social environment and attitudes, transport mode, and technology adoption. Results are conceptualized as an incapacity-incapability space, indicating that relative risk exposure is highest for younger children (5–9 years), and for teenagers (12–16 years). Findings have implications for the study of traffic risks, urban design and transport planning and policy.