The idea was first put into practice by the Hertfordshire County Council (in the United Kingdom) in the late 1990s, and it has since become popular in many parts of Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America. Some walking groups pick up children from outside their houses, while others have designated stops and schedules for children to join the groups along its route to school. The process, led by the same or different parents, is reversed for the return journey.

Children in the walking groups usually wear reflective sashes or vests to ensure that they are visible to motorists while walking, thereby enhancing their safety on the road. To make walking easier, especially for younger children, children’s bags are sometimes put in a trolley pushed by one of the adult volunteers. Walking groups are most commonly used by children in junior school, who have not yet developed the necessary road safety skills to walk without adult supervision. The service is free and every child is welcome to join even if their parents are not able to participate.

Background Information on Walking Groups South Africa
Delft Walking Groups The walking groups were initiated by research that identified the Delft township as a hazardous location given the high rate of pedestrian and road-related fatalities. As a result the walking groups were introduced to overcome challenges experienced by the children as they walk to and from school. Some findings from the research conducted by the Global Road Safety Partnership South Africa and the University of Cape Town indicated the following: 
 

• Problems encountered by learner pedestrians
  Findings indicate that the most important problems encountered by learners while walking to and from the schools, include fear of criminals, bad weather and road safety concerns due to high traffic volumes. It is suggested that the introduction of ‘walking groups’ may help to allay concerns for safety and security in the neighbourhoods.
• Willingness to participate in ‘walking groups’
  There was positive interest in the concept of ‘walking groups’ among parents, both in terms of letting children join ‘walking groups’ and supervising those ‘groups’. Parent interest in permitting children to join a ‘walking group’ was found to be high in Delft. However, parent willingness to volunteer to supervise ‘walking groups’ among Delft schools was low.
• Reasons for rejecting the ‘walking group’ concept
  Among the parents who were not interested in participating in ‘walking groups’ in Delft, security was cited as a major hindrance given some parents previous experience with criminal activity in the area.

Delft Walking Groups Trial Run
During the trial runs of the Delft Walking Groups, launched at Delft Primary School, the number of participants for the Delft Walking Groups rapidly increased from 84 to 1642 children (total of 3 walking groups) within the space on one week. Interestingly parents from the community began to walk with groups which helped to supervise the significantly large number of participants in the walking groups (which exceeded the specified maximum ratio of one adult to 10 learners). The long term sustainability of the Walking Groups in a community such as Delft, would be that parents take ownership of the Walking Groups for their child’s school.

A total of 200, 206, 166 and 161 learners used the ‘groups’ on the first, second, third and fourth days respectively. The Global Road Safety Partnership South Africa sponsored reflective vests for the children and these vests are collected and distributed by the Red Cross Peer educators.