Ann Weaver, director of Safekids Aotearoa, said the emphasis was on drivers to watch out for children.
"All children make silly mistakes sometimes. They just don't have the cognitive ability to judge speed, to judge distance, to understand that level of safety," Ms Weaver said.
"So that's why we encourage the adults in this scenario, who are the drivers, to really take more care, [and] around school times, around school zones to be extra vigilant."
Earlier, one of the responding officers to a crash that left three children in hospital said it was "unacceptable" for young children to be walking to school without adult supervision.
The three victims - two five-year-old girls and a 10-year-old girl - were hit by a mother who had just dropped her children at Otahuhu Primary School in South Auckland.
Senior Sergeant Ian Brenchley said: "A 10-year-old and 5-year-olds shouldn't be making their way to school across main roads unsupervised at that time of the day, or any time of the day."
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Two of the injured children were taken to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition, and one in a moderate condition, Leah Grave of the St John Ambulance northern communications centre said.
Otahuhu Primary School principal Jason Swann confirmed all three girls were pupils at the school, describing them as "wonderful".
Two of the girls - aged 5 and 10 - were siblings, he said, and the other 5-year-old was a friend. The two youngest were "very new" to the school.
Sergeant Child said the children were semi-conscious and able to communicate with people at the scene.
He said the driver was upset and had been spoken to by the Serious Crash Unit.
The accident happened about 100m from Otahuhu police station and officers quickly rushed to the scene. They found members of the public comforting the girls.
Janendra Naidu, who works at a car sales yard, said he was opening the yard about 8.40am when he heard shouts and cries.
He could see three girls had been hit and there was blood on the road. He then saw police rushing towards the scene.
Mr Naidu said the female driver looked like she had been driving slowly along the road when the accident happened.
Mr Child said the upset woman had been spoken to by the Serious Crash Unit which is investigating.
"We're just sort of waiting on some information, and we have staff members at the hospital with the kids at the moment, so I just need to make sure that they're alright as well and that everyone is being supported," Mr Swann said.
The girls were crossing the road at the intersection of Great South Rd and Huia Rd which is controlled by traffic lights, Mr Swann said, however, he would not confirm details of the incident.
Mr Swann declined to comment on whether the girls were accompanied by an adult at the time. However, the spot where they were hit was not a known crash hot spot, he said.
Some staff members had been at a pedestrian crossing further up the road when the crash happened, and they notified the school.
"We got down to where it happened," Mr Swann said. "It's directly across the road from the police station so police were there very, very quickly and so were ambulance services, and staff were on site then too."
The girls' classmates were in the process of being informed, but classes would continue today. The mood at the school was "definitely" subdued.
"We'll have the Ministry of Education's traumatic incident team in and they help us through the process as well."
