Helping children get to school safely

Although local authorities are not required by law to provide this service, we recognise the significant role that school crossing patrols play in reducing the number of road accidents involving children.

We provide 148 designated crossing sites with a backup service of 30 mobile patrollers.

The service

The school crossing patrol service is based on the concept of part-time employees seeing children safely across the road at specific sites on their journey to and from school.

The patrols operate over two periods per day during the school term.

Parent responsibility

While every effort is made to staff each site during the school term, cover cannot be guaranteed as sites can become vacant, often at very short notice.

Even where a school crossing patrol is provided, parents remain responsible for making sure their child is safe on their whole journey to and from school.

Legal powers

It is an offence under the Road Traffic Regulations Act 1984 for a driver to fail to stop for a patroller wearing the official uniform and displaying the patrol stop sign. It is also an offence for a driver to move off whilst the patroller is still on the road.

The school crossing patrols were given extended powers by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001, meaning that patrollers can now stop traffic to help adults cross the road, as well as children going to and from school.