Safety for school children: Strict controls in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district

Safety for school children: Strict controls in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district

Safety on the way to school remains a central concern in Berlin. From September 8th to 19th, 2025, the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg public order office carried out comprehensive checks on school routes and traffic safety. The focus of this campaign was on “school route monitoring as well as stopping and parking”, as berlin.de reports.

The daily school route checks took place at 14 primary schools between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. and involved numerous services, including the traffic monitoring service, the general public order service and parking space monitoring. The measure was also supported by joint operations with the police sections A 51 and A 52. As part of these checks, 193 traffic offenses were identified, 26 verbal warnings were issued and 4 vehicles were immobilized.

Safety priority

Annika Gerold, district councilor for transport, emphasizes the high priority of children's safety on the way to school. School route safety refers to the remaining risk of danger for children and young people on the way to school and is an important topic that includes not only road traffic-related risks, but also other dangers such as acts of violence among students or attacks by adults, as Wikipedia explains.

In Germany, safety on the way to school has been an important concern for many decades. The first measures were taken to make it easier for school children to cross streets as early as the early 20th century. In 2015, there were 28,235 accidents involving children under 15 in Germany, with vehicle traffic identified as the greatest risk. In addition, statistical studies show that the number of accidents on the way to school has fallen significantly compared to the 1950s, when over 1,000 deaths were recorded per year.

Current developments

In the first half of 2025, the number of accidents on the way to school increased by around 5% compared to the previous year, according to the DGUV Education Barometer 2025. A total of 42,303 accidents were registered, which shows that road safety on the way to school still requires attention. Although 90% of parents feel that going to school is safe, a third of them say that they have gotten into dangerous situations, according to dguv.de.

The forsa survey also shows that 45% of teachers often observe dangerous situations in the school environment, especially due to car traffic. According to the results of this survey, most children walk or cycle to school, while only 12% are brought by car. However, 42% of parents cite safety as the main reason for driving; an aspect that should be viewed critically, as transport by car in many cases increases the risk of accidents.

Safety on the way to school is therefore a complex issue that not only requires official measures, but also requires valuable educational work in families and schools. The cooperation of all road users and the promotion of independent routes to school could help to further increase the safety of children.