It’s Bike to School Day

[pfunkallstar]

BMX with Aero Bars – MUST HAVE

[Greenbelt]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/two-montgomery-county-teens-struck-by-car-hospitalized-on-walk-to-school-day/2012/10/03/5ea6facc-0d60-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_blog.html?hpid=z5

Another reason for landscape separated or buffered sidewalks and sidepaths in the suburbs.

[rcannon100]

Ug. The area near schools is singularly the most dangerous with regards to traffic. Huge amounts of congestion. Tons of parents breaking traffic laws left and right – illegal U turns – illegal right and left turns – illegal drop offs. Speeding. Cars going through school bus blinking red lights. Cars going down the wrong side of the road. Cars going the wrong way down one way roads. Its awful.

Given how bad traffic is near schools, it fills me with trepidation to tell kids to bike and walk to school (particularly given kids propensity to plug in the ipods, tune out the world, and stair at their shoes while crossing the road)

[Tim Kelley]

@rcannon100 32769 wrote:

Ug. The area near schools is singularly the most dangerous with regards to traffic. Huge amounts of congestion. Tons of parents breaking traffic laws left and right – illegal U turns – illegal right and left turns – illegal drop offs. Speeding. Cars going through school bus blinking red lights. Cars going down the wrong side of the road. Cars going the wrong way down one way roads. Its awful.

Given how bad traffic is near schools, it fills me with trepidation to tell kids to bike and walk to school (particularly given kids propensity to plug in the ipods, tune out the world, and stair at their shoes while crossing the road)

So what’s the answer? Infrastructure? Changing drop off rules? Educating motorists? Get more kids biking and walking for safety in numbers?

[DaveK]

The problem around the immediate school area is almost always the parents. Half of them are (rightfully) worried about insane driving behavior around the school. Half of them are the crazy drivers with total disregard for traffic laws and the safety of the students. Occasionally these halves overlap.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

@Tim Kelley 32786 wrote:

So what’s the answer? Infrastructure? Changing drop off rules? Educating motorists? Get more kids biking and walking for safety in numbers?

How about a $10 toll per trip for dropping off kids in cars (without prior authorization to do so), then spend the $$$ on improving infrastructure, educating motorists.

[Jason B]

My little bug cranked her three speed Giant up 23rd street hill to reach Oakridge Elementary school. I haven’t checked Strava yet, but I think she has her first KOM!
Now, I wasn’t able to stick around for the fun outdoor singing and dancing biking event they had, but in her words, “a GIANT who can run a million miles” spoke. Any relation to the giant who runs and rides a million miles that lurks on this site???
All in all, from what I am hearing from the PTA parents, it was a wonderfully fun, organized, and safe day that made many parents proud that they live in this community.
By the way, to celebrate this day W-L bike club took it first group ride. We took about 15 bugs around the Arlington loop. Only 3 of them had ever done it before and most had never rode further than 5 miles!

[Tim Kelley]

Some coverage:

http://clarendon.patch.com/articles/oakridge-elementary-students-join-in-on-walk-bike-to-school-day#photo-11576629

http://www.arlnow.com/2012/10/03/photos-walk-and-bike-to-school-day-in-arlington/

[dasgeh]

@Tim Kelley 32786 wrote:

So what’s the answer? Infrastructure? Changing drop off rules? Educating motorists? Get more kids biking and walking for safety in numbers?

There’s one obvious policy change that would help (some): guarantee spots to families who live within a walk-/bikeable radius of a school (e.g. 1/2 mile for elementary schools), provided the families pledge not to drive more than X% of the time. That was the policy where I’m from (Charlotte – and in most NC school systems), and it seems to make sense. It really only affects a few schools that are either magnets (ASFE, Traditional) or happen have assignment boundaries that are oddly close to the school like Hoffman-Boston.

Otherwise, I think enforcement is the way to go – e.g. a targeted force of a few cops that target different schools every morning/afternoon for the first month or two of school.

[Author]

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