To walk to school or not? Hawke's Bay parents heap scorn on coroner's report into schoolkid's death

Julie Thomas (centre) says she has let her children walk to school since preschool (left to right) Cody, 14, Riley, 12, Grace, 10, and Kim, 17, walk to school since preschool. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay parents have poured cold water on a coroner's report into the death of Carla Neems which slammed her parents for allowing her to walk to school alone.

Neems was killed by a recycling truck outside her family's Russell St home in Gisborne, as she arrived back home from school on her scooter about 3pm on May 2, 2017.

Coroner Tim Scott ruled that Carla should have been accompanied by an adult on her journey home.

Carla had two older sisters - aged 8 and 10 - and regularly travelled to and from school with them.

However, on the day of her death she walked home with two other young children, and part of the way on her own, the report stated.

"Carla was not accompanied home from school by a responsible older person, preferably an adult and she should have been," Scott said.

Taradale mother of four Julie Thomas said she had always let her kids walk or bike to and from school.

She said she had been criticised by other parents for doing so.

"It's about teaching them the risks of everything from where to cross the road, how to do so and stranger danger," Thomas said.

She said she had an age limit - about 8 was when she personally started to feel comfortable letting her eldest go, and only if they wore hi-viz vests, and she let go without hi-viz once they were at intermediate.

Six-year-old Carla Neems died as a result of the collision outside her family's home. Photo / File

"I was pretty nervous at the beginning wondering if they are okay and always listening out for sirens every time it went off," Thomas said.

"But you have to let them go at some stage.

"Too many people are scared of the threats in the world but the world's not going to change and it's just a matter of teaching your kids how to deal with it."

Havelock North mother of eight Anna Vesty said nothing would stop her letting her kids walk to school.

"I feel I've told the kids what they need to do if approached by stranger dangers, and they all carry mobile phones and a first aid kit in their bags and I feel the schools also do a great job of teaching our kids safety rules about walking to and from school."

She said that they faced the same potential threats in the world as there is today and were taught how to deal with it by their parents.

"I grew up in Flaxmere and we always walked to school and there was always incidents happening back then as well but our parents told us never to hop in the car with anyone else and we didn't and got home safely - the same applies today to my children."

Thomas said nervous parents could set up a network of people so the kids were always walking in a group and never left by themselves.