The mother of a 12-year-old girl who was nearly killed by a hit-and-run driver in south London is calling for urgent action to make roads safer for children, as new research shows that more than 400 pupils are injured on their journeys to and from school each year.
Aaishah Mohammed, now 14, had been walking her younger sister, then 8, home from school and had turned back to attend football practice on Black Prince Road in Kennington when the crash happened, her mother Farhia said.
Although the road has a 20mph speed limit, Farhia, said a speeding car came “around the corner and drove right into her daughter,” throwing her to the ground.
Aaishah struck her face on the car’s bonnet, suffering broken teeth and bleeding from the mouth, while the driver fled the scene.
“To this day she has been traumatised, as we all are, and still has a loss of sensation in her knee nearly two years later,” she said.
“There was blood everywhere. She looked so scared. The surgery was traumatic, and my daughter was off school for several weeks, falling behind in class.
“She had to have emergency dental surgery and now has a prosthetic tooth. She had 24 stitches in her gum and 22 in her chin.
“We have to do something to make our roads safer for our children. It made me so scared to let my daughters out again.”
It comes as parents have been holding vigils for safer streets across the capital, with protests in Lambeth, Lewisham and Twickenham in recent days and further events planned in Camden and Hackney.
Research by the parent-led charity Solve the School Run shows that an average of 443 children are injured each year on their journeys to and from London schools — the equivalent of the entire pupil roll of a large primary school.
Of these, 16% (72 children) are seriously or fatally injured during the school run, including 1 fatality and 71 serious injuries.
‘Serious’ injuries include fractures, internal injuries, severe cuts, crushing, burns (excluding friction burns), concussion, severe shock requiring hospital treatment, and cases requiring admission as an in-patient.
Across London, 6,181 children have been injured on the road over the past three years, with 1,006 killed or seriously injured. Of these, 1,328 incidents occurred during school-run hours.
Katy Heald also shared how her four-year-old son, Ben, was nearly crushed under an SUV while riding his bike.
“We were at a traffic light crossing outside our local station. The traffic was nose to tail, as it often is at the end of the school day, and an SUV had stopped just over the stop line.
“When the green man came on my 4 year old, Ben, went forwards on his balance bike while I followed with my toddler in the buggy. The traffic beyond the crossing shifted forward and the driver of the SUV - rather than observe the red light and green man, or even check the crossing was clear - moved with it.
“I screamed but by the time she realised what she'd done she had driven over the front wheel of Ben’s bike. The wheel and front fork of his bike were crushed, which tells you how close the wheel was to his leg.
“The driver had no idea that he was even there until his bike was under her car as the bonnet was so high, and we saw no evidence of the automatic braking or collision avoidance systems that car manufacturers talk about.
“Ben was distraught and so was the driver, who had her own kids in the back of the car. We need safer streets all the time, but particularly during the school run, when thousands of children are walking and cycling on the streets at the same time as thousands of cars are on the roads."
Solve the School Run, together with Clean Cities, is calling on all councils to sign up to their Safer Streets for Kids manifesto ahead of next year’s election.
The proposals include expanding school streets — which restrict car access at drop-off and pick-up times — and introducing higher parking charges to discourage the use of large SUVs, which are significantly more dangerous for children.
According to analysis of Transport for London road collision data by Solve the School Run, the trip to school is one of the most dangerous journeys many children make.
Although it accounts for just 7% of a child’s waking hours, it represents 21% of all road injuries involving children.
The analysis examines incidents between 8–8.59am and 3.15–4.14pm during London school term time and is based on official data from the past three years (2022–2024).
London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, said: “Every death and injury on London’s roads is a tragedy, and especially when it involves a child. The Mayor, TfL and London Boroughs are committed to eliminating deaths and serious injuries on the roads. We are investing heavily to reduce road danger and to make it easier and safer for children to walk, cycle and scoot to school. London now has over 800 school streets, a cycle network of over 400km and we are transforming dangerous junctions and pedestrian crossings across the capital.”
“We wanted to shine a light on the very real danger that children face getting to school. As parents we see and feel it every school day. We wanted to turn that experience into numbers that councils can understand, to demonstrate the need for immediate action,” said Claire McDonald, co-founder of Solve The School Run.
“Councils have the power to transform the journey to school for thousands of children. And many of them are already doing it, with school streets, bike lanes and increased parking tariffs on SUVs. But we want more,” Ms McDonald added.
“We want councillors to pledge to save children's lives, give them back their independence and bring the joy of freedom into their lives. They can do this by committing to our pledge.”
