The death toll from school run crashes has reached a 15-year high.

Latest available data from the Department of Transport showed there were 11 fatalities, 259 people seriously injured in crashes and another 1,721 who escaped a smash with lesser injuries in 2023.

The figures equate to around 10 people every school day and this was more than double the amount for any of the previous six years. It was only exceeded by the 12 deaths in 2008.

The number injured and killed dropped significantly during the pandemic when schools were either closed or pupil numbers limited. But there has been a sharp rise since restrictions were lifted.

In 2020 when Covid struck there were five people killed in school-run crashes, 175 seriously injured and 1,302 slightly hurt.

In the three years since, the number of fatalities has more than doubled, serious injuries have increased almost 50% and slight injuries by 32%.

The figures showed the vast majority of these accidents took place in and around the rush-hour times for schools at 8am to 9am, or 3pm to 4pm.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “Keeping children and parents safe on the school run is important, no matter how they travel.

“Improving the safety of walking routes by retaining lollipop crossing patrols, implementing school streets and introducing traffic calming measures outside the school gates could help reduce crashes and casualties.”

James Ruppert, editor of Free Car Mag.com, said: “Rush hour is always a dangerous time to travel for all road users. If we take children out of cars then put them in buses or encourage walking to local schools then perhaps two issues could be solved, congestion and the potential for accidents.

“At the heart of the problem can also be parents with a mix of primary and secondary school children simply having to deal with the complicated logistics of getting them to where they need to be on time.”