Safe to Walk to School?

Utah students are back in school, and in my neighborhood more of those students are heading back on foot. Rather than moms driving their tots to the school’s front door and then idling in long lines in the afternoon, school leaders are pushing a walk-to-school effort.

They even held a presentation touting the health and environmental benefits of walking instead of driving. In one school, students will be rewarded for how many days they walk from home.

But I can’t help but wonder if I’d be comfortable sending my first-grader out the door in the morning.

A police officer talked to parents at my neighborhood school about the safety of walking. He said it’s actually safer for students to walk than to be driven, and that students are best off forming a “walking school bus” — to stop and pick each other up along the way.

I think that’s a great idea, but it’s pretty clear from the long line of cars outside the school every day that not all moms are sold on it.

Would you let your elementary-school child walk to school alone? Do you think it’s safe?