Mapping road safety challenges to independent mobility for children with SEND (Safe-SEND)
Overview
Road safety remains a paramount concern in the UK, with vulnerable road users (VRUs)—including children, disabled people, and the elderly—facing significantly elevated accident risks. Among VRUs, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) face substantial and compounded challenges due to their specific physical, cognitive, and sensory needs, especially when travelling independently.
Children with SEND in England reached 1.6 million in 2024. While these children can enjoy important developmental benefits from independent mobility—undertaking unaccompanied journeys along familiar routes—they and their parents often have to reconcile independence with specific and partially unknown road risks. Ensuring the safety of this growing yet marginalised group requires greater attention: the "mapping road safety challenges to independent mobility for children with SEND (Safe-SEND)" project aims to promote children with SEND’s road safety and support them as they transition to independent mobility.
Through close collaboration with 50 families from Swindon and multiple local and national stakeholders, Safe-SEND will:
- Profile the typical safety challenges and dangerous scenarios encountered by children with SEND and their carers from socially different neighbourhoods.
- Create an open-access participatory mapping tool to enable more families report the nature and locations of specific risks/challenges.
- Raise awareness of these heightened safety risks and promote wider responses to our findings in the design of tailored interventions.
In brief
Duration
01 July 2025 to 30 June 2027
Funder
Road Safety Trust
Partners
Swindon SEND Families Voice, Living Streets, Council for Disabled Children, IMPOWER
Principal Investigator and main contact for the project
Researcher
Anna Plyushteva (Co-I)
