Social Dangers as Constraints for Pro-Environmental Travel Modes - the Perception of Parents in England and Sweden

The paper explores parental perception of social dangers in the urban environment as a constraint for children to walk and cycle. Group discussions with 37 Swedish and 35 English parents of 7 to 12 year old children revealed that social dangers related to strangers, criminality and drugs concerned parents in both countries. These concerns also influenced travel mode choices for their children’s journeys. To protect their children from the perceived dangers, parents chose to chauffeur and accompany them as well as employ various strategies related to fear of crime. The level of protection was generally higher among the English than the Swedish parents. Further more, the perception of social dangers was discussed in relation to media, design of the physical environment and sense of community in the neighbourhood, as well as the child’s capability and preferences. It is concluded that traffic dangers and social dangers must be considered in parallel if we are to prevent new barriers against children’s pro-environmental travel modes when designing traffic safe routes.