In the urban environment, a child struck by a vehicle travelling at 60kmh has only a 15% chance of survival.
That is why Dunedin police are running a road policing campaign targeting excessive speed around schools and school bus routes as pupils start returning to school this week.
Southern district acting road policing manager Senior Sergeant Steve Larking, of Dunedin, said there were 496 crashes within 250m of Southern district school zones in the past five years.
The crashes were during the months of February to December, between 7.30am and 9am and between 2.30pm and 4pm.
In total, 58 crashes involved children and young people aged between 1 and 18, and all were injury crashes, he said.
Southern police are reminding parents and others who drive near schools at peak times to be vigilant and drive safely.
Snr Sgt Larking said the road policing campaign would target excessive speed around schools and school bus routes in a bid to prevent fatal and injury crashes involving children.
''It's a new term and a new start for some students, so we need to be extra careful with our driving habits around schools.
''Parents need to be mindful of not double parking or parking on yellow lines when dropping students off, and give themselves plenty of time to get children to school safely.''
He said it was particularly important to be aware of younger school children because they tended to think about one thing at a time, and were not as aware of other things happening around them.
They can have difficulty judging the speed of moving vehicles, he said.
''Some children will have received a new bike for Christmas and be riding these to school for the first time, so please be aware of children on bikes.
''There are also many high school-age students who are new drivers and it's important for them and for more experienced motorists to be aware of the risks, and drive at a reduced speed.''
Snr Sgt Larking said police would be enforcing speed limits using both speed cameras and lasers to detect speeding drivers within 250m of school boundaries.
Drivers travelling more than the posted speed limit could be issued an infringement notice.
During the campaign, police would also be monitoring school bus routes and enforcing the 20kmh restriction that applies for vehicles passing a stationary school bus.
Snr Sgt Larking said when the impact of speed was reduced 10kmh from 60kmh to 50kmh, a child's chance of survival increased from 15% to 55%.
The campaign will run until February 13.john.
The crashes
• 496 crashes within 250m of school zones in the Southern district in past five years.
• 58 of those crashes involved those aged 1-18; all were injury crashes.
• 12 of the injury crashes involved pedestrians, 12 involved cyclists.
• Drivers aged 15-19 were at fault or partly at fault in 17 of these crashes.
• 9 drivers at fault or partly at fault in injury crashes were on their learner's licence; 20 on restricted licence.
• 3 of the injury crashes involved drivers under the influence of alcohol.
• Key risk times: 7.30am-9am, 2.30pm-4pm.
