Exercise your rights and make a pitch for pedal power

PEOPLE that regularly drive past a school in the morning, or mid-afternoon, must be asking themselves: Does any child walk to school any more? These are the times of the day when you’ll find traffic jams outside practically every school in Ireland, causing hazards not only to other road users but also to children who weave in and out between vehicles.

Latest research shows that over half of schoolchildren live no more than a 20-30 minute walk (2km) from school and almost 80% live within 5km, again a reasonably short cycle for older schoolchildren. But less than 40% of schoolchildren walk or cycle.

The reason many parents give for taking their offspring to school in a car is that they want them to arrive safely. Ironically, however, car school runs are making the roads more unsafe, with the result that some parents are having second thoughts about school runs.