A typical school run may become difficult long before reaching the kerb. For some neurodivergent children and young people, challenges come from noise, pace, unpredictability, crowds and waiting. These factors can make crossing roads or interpreting traffic signals harder than usual.
Road Safety GB is coordinating a new project funded by the Road Safety Trust to gather evidence on what makes everyday journeys harder or safer for neurodivergent children and young people. The call invites children, parents, carers and professionals to share their experiences.
Everyday streets challenge neurodivergent road users
Traditional road safety work assumes people can spot hazards, judge speed and react predictably to signs and other road users. These assumptions often do not hold on busy, noisy UK streets full of competing stimuli.
Neurodivergence affects how a person processes sensory input and adapts to change, risk and routine. A standard crossing may seem straightforward to highway engineers but feel overwhelming to a child experiencing anxiety, sensory overload or communication difficulties.
Bridging the gap between design and experience
The project aims to improve understanding of daily travel realities rather than relying solely on collision statistics. Collision data shows where incidents happen but rarely why journeys felt unsafe beforehand.
Engineering provides crossings, footways, signage and speed management. Families and schools build routines around these. However, a journey’s success often depends on human factors that are harder to identify than physical infrastructure.
A simple question with wide implications
The project asks what makes journeys safer or more difficult. This includes walking, wheeling, cycling, public transport, car travel and transitions between these modes.
Responses can help refine future education campaigns, scheme designs, crossing layouts and the language used in community engagement by local authorities and road safety teams.
Beyond physical accessibility
Physical measures such as gradients, widths, tactile paving and dropped kerbs are important for accessibility. Cognitive accessibility is less visible but equally significant. It concerns whether a route is calm, clear and predictable enough to use without distress.
Local authorities face challenges if technically compliant routes are avoided by families. The issue may relate to how the environment feels rather than how it was designed.
Adjustments might include repositioning crossing points, redesigning waiting areas, reducing street clutter, changing signal timings or altering the sequence of information given to pedestrians.
Real-world journeys reveal hidden risks
Journeys do not happen in ideal conditions. They unfold in drizzle, with time constraints, luggage, siblings, noise and pressure to hurry. Understanding these everyday contexts is crucial because routine is where risks often hide.
Detailed feedback from the survey could inform future road safety guidance and interventions tailored specifically for neurodivergent children and young people.
Although this project will not redesign UK roads on its own, it provides valuable direct evidence about lived experiences often missing from standard road safety data and design.
Road safety works best when it accounts for diverse users. Asking who the road serves and how it feels at walking pace is a vital step towards safer journeys for all.
