A mother has shared her nightmare experience after her daughter became the victim of a hit-and-run incident while returning from school. Recent statistics reveal that each year, the number of children injured during school runs in London could fill a primary school.

Twelve-year-old Aaishah Mohammed was heading home with her eight-year-old sister when a speeding vehicle suddenly appeared and hit her directly, necessitating immediate medical attention.

Her mother, Farhia Mohammed, recounted the horrifying moment when the driver sped away, leaving Aaishah in a state of distress, bleeding profusely, with broken teeth, and in need of over 40 stitches to her face and mouth.

Farhia Mohammed’s story comes as new research highlights that more than 440 children on average are injured on London’s roads while commuting to and from school. This alarming trend has prompted parents to demand stricter safety measures and a reduction in SUV usage.

A report by the charity Solve The School Run revealed that in the past three years, 443 children have been injured in London, with 72 of these cases, or 16 percent, resulting in serious or even fatal injuries, including fractures, internal damage, and concussions.

In total, 6,181 children have been injured on London’s roads over the past three years, with 1,006 suffering fatal or severe injuries. Of these incidents, 1,328 occurred during the hours when children are typically commuting to or from school.

There are fears the true number could be far higher due to under-reporting of road accidents, especially where no serious injuries are sustained. 

Parents and campaigners from Solve The School Run are calling for London councils to commit to their ‘Safer Streets for Kids’ manifesto, which sets out a raft of new measures designed to protect children.

These include the expansion of ‘school streets’, roads which are closed to traffic during the hours of the school run, and an increase in coverage of double yellow lines to reduce parking.

There are currently about 800 school streets in London and campaigners want to see this extended to EVERY school in the capital. 

On average more than 440 children come to harm on the roads while travelling to and from school in London each year, prompting parents to call for councils to take stricter measures to make streets safe

Farhia Mohammed, a mother from South London, told how her 12-year-old daughter Aaishah (pictured) was involved in a hit and run while on her way home in January last year

Farhia Mohammed, from Lambeth, south London, told how her daughter Aaishah was involved in a hit-and-run while on her way home in January last year. 

Aaishah, now 14, was walking home from after-school football practice with her younger sister, then eight, on Black Prince Road in Kennington when she was hit.

Ms Mohammed told the Daily Mail: ‘A grey car came speeding around the corner and drove right into her and knocked her up in the air. She flew onto the other side of the road and hit her face on the bonnet as she fell. 

‘She was bleeding from the mouth with broken teeth. The driver just wound down her window and asked if she was all right, but my daughter was in shock so didn’t really answer.

‘She saw my daughter in a school uniform, crying and she just drove off.

‘The other kids she was with were screaming, there was blood everywhere.’

Ms Mohammed said she still has to take her daughter to hospital on a regular basis to ensure her mouth is healing properly – and she has a loss of sensation in her knee. 

‘To this day she has been traumatised. She used to have activities that she went to and now she’s always indoors instead. Psychologically it did affect her.’

Ms Mohammed added: ‘The police didn’t come on the night the incident happened. They only came after a couple of days but there was no further action against the driver. 

‘Aaishahlost her front teeth and a tooth went inside her gum. I was left so angry about how little was done to punish the woman who did this and to prevent this from happening again.

‘At least she’s alive, at least she can walk, she can play football but anything could have happened. Drivers have to be watching what they are doing.’

Aaishah had to undergo emergency dental surgery after the incident and missed several weeks of school.

She required 24 stitches in her gum and another 22 in her chin, and was fitted with a prosthetic tooth. 

‘We have to do something to make our roads safer for our children,’ her mother said. ‘It made me so scared to let my daughters out again.’

Mother-of-two Katy Heald, 39, told the Daily Mail she is backing the campaign after her son Ben (pictured), four, was almost run over by an SUV while on the school run in Southwark in 2021

Mother-of-two Katy Heald, 39, told the Daily Mail she is backing the campaign after her son Ben, four, was almost run over by an SUV while on the school run in Southwark in 2021.

‘I was out with my two boys, Ben was four and on his push bike,’ Ms Heald said.

‘We had roadworks outside our local station so there were temporary lights in place. We were waiting to cross when the pedestrian light went green and so Ben went out in front [on his bike].

‘The car that ultimately hit him had stopped just over the stop line, but there was still a gap on the other side of crossing.

‘At the same second Ben went forward the traffic on the other side of the crossing began to move forward, and the driver of the car just automatically moved with it.

‘I screamed ‘stop!’, whether that made her slow down or not I can’t remember but in that split second she had hit the front of his bike.

‘The wheel and front fork of his bike were crushed, and there’s not a lot of difference (in distance) between the front of his bike and his foot.’

She added: ‘The driver had no clue he was even there until his bike was under her car as the bonnet was so high. She was really distressed and immediately got out of the car.’

Ms Heald said: ‘Ultimately we need fewer cars on the road and that’s got to be a combination of carrot and stick – more school streets, protected cycle infrastructure.

‘There is a very clear hierarchy of vulnerability and the attitude of so many drivers in London is just that the road is mine – and everyone else can get lost. 

Protesters in Lewisham back campaigning by Save the School Run for more safety measures including the introduction of school streets outside every school in the capital

‘In the majority of cases you should be able to walk and cycle, it’s about protecting the people who have made that decision.’

Ms Heald added she would like to see more accountability from car manufacturers and said the growing size of many vehicles is making London’s streets more dangerous for children.

‘Manufacturers are facilitating the breakdown between drivers and pedestrians,’ she said.

‘[During the accident] we saw no evidence of the automatic braking or collision avoidance systems that car manufacturers talk about. And they can’t be a ‘get out of free card’.’

The mothers are just two of thousands of parents who are campaigning for safer streets for children after data revealed some 443 children are injured in traffic accidents on the way to and from school every year. 

Of those, almost 300 were pedestrians, with 56 out of 296 being killed or suffering serious injuries, analysis by Solve the School Run found. 

On average, one schoolchild is killed each year on the school run, with another 71 sustaining serious injuries which require hospital treatment. 

In response, Solve the School Run and campaign group Clean Cities are calling for London councils to implement measures to make streets safer and discourage larger cars on the roads.

These include ‘school streets’ outside every school, access to a cargo bike – which typically have a large bucket-like structure attached to carry young children – for every family and reallocating kerb space in a ‘child-friendly’ way.

Campaigners want to see an increase in the use of double yellow lines and zigzag lines outside schools, as well as clearer crossings so that children can be seen more easily.

They are also calling for ‘fairer’ parking tariffs to ‘discourage carspreading’ – when large SUV-style cars take up considerable space on the roads.

In recent weeks protests in support of the campaign have taken place in Lambeth and Lewisham.

Co-founder of Solve the School Run, Claire McDonald said: ‘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.

‘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.’ 

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 more than 800 school streets, a cycle network of over 400km and we are transforming dangerous junctions and pedestrian crossings across the capital.’