ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 27 (UPI) -- Safety concerns are the main reason only 13 percent of U.S. children walked or biked to school in 2004 compared to 50 percent in 1969, U.S. researchers said.
Using Geographic Information System data combined with a survey of 186 parents of 5th through 8th grade students, the researchers found that parents were most concerned about the speed and volume of traffic students would encounter en route to school; the possibility of crime; and the weather.
Byoung-Suk Kweon of University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, who conducted the study while in Texas, said the parent's concerns are strongly linked to the kind of physical environment children navigate between home and school.
"It's very important for parents that there be a separation or buffer between traffic and the sidewalk," Kweon said in a statement. "They are much more willing to let their children walk when this buffer is at least eight feet wide, and when there are also trees in this area." Trees not only provide shade, but also serve as a sort of vertical barrier between sidewalk and street.
Children who walk to school usually live less than three-quarters of a mile away, Kweon noted.
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