Middle School Traffic Safety

New York Times: Middle School Lessons in Traffic Safety. Some interesting stuff:

• The number of child injuries during school dropoff/pickup times has increased over the years.
  
• Nationwide, roughly 21 percent of morning traffic is generated by parents driving children to school according to Safe Routes to School.
  
• "Traffic patterns around schools in Los Angeles have become clogged and often dangerous because of a large growth in student enrollment and an increase in the number of parents who ferry their children to and from school out of fear for their safety."
  
• Sidewalks get narrowed as roads are widened to make room for more cars.

Read more at the New York Times.

See also:

• Soap Box LA: Crosswalk sting operation. "Watching the LAPD conduct a crosswalk sting operation is like watching the home team win the big game, over and over again. The impact of the sting was dramatic to watch, especially when the motorcycle officers rode into the traffic with one arm in the air like cowboys herding cattle and pulling over up to four motorists at a time."
  
• Los Altos Freiker. Imagine if over half the kids at your child's school walked or biked there.
  
• 70% of students walk and bike to some Boulder County schools after implementation of Safe Routes to School programs.