We want our students to get more exercise and be able to spend more time outdoors. Walking to school is a great way to accomplish both, but we need also to make sure students have safe routes to get to school and home. Getting hit by a car traveling 30 miles per hour has the same impact on a person as falling off a three story building.
Today is International Walk to School Day and I celebrated with Councilmember Tom LaBonge and students from Thomas Starr King Middle School in Silver Lake. The students walked to school and then participated in a safety fair where they got to try safety-related demonstrations and visit information booths.
Soon these students will see nearly $1 million in pedestrian safety improvements around their school, which Councilmember LaBonge and I announced in April.