Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003
By Rebecca Vesely
Staff Writer

Walking or biking to school is becoming a rarity in California -- and
a lack of pedestrian-friendly streets is contributing to children's poor health and higher rate of injuries, according to a statewide study released Wednesday.

Children today make about three-fourths of their trips to school in automobiles, while walking or biking there only 16 percent of the time, the report found by analyzing state Department of Transportation data.

"We have engineered our streets for speed rather than safety, designed our neighborhoods for traffic rather than children," said James Corless, state director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project, an independent group that produced the report with the Land Use Coalition and Latino Issues Forum.

Whatever path children take to school, they face danger, the report found, but riding in cars isn't a good solution to the problem.

Being inside a car during a crash is the number one accidental cause of death for youth under 18. The third leading cause of accidental death for kids is being hit by an automobile as a pedestrian, the report found. In Alameda County, 245 pedestrian children died or were injured by vehicles in 2001.

These facts and figures come to life at Garfield Elementary in Oakland.

Cars zoom by the school, located at the very busy intersection of Foothill Boulevard and 22nd Avenue. And although half of the 800 students who attend Garfield walk to school, there are no crossing guards, school bus service or stoplights for the children. There isn't even a parking lot for parents to drive into and drop off their kids.

It's no wonder Garfield had the highest number of accidents involving children among Oakland schools from 1996 to 2000, according to the city's Pedestrian Master Plan.

Eleven children were injured or killed in pedestrian accidents while going to or from the school.

"The number one issue people want to improve is safety -- not just crime, but safe streets," said Diana Williams, executive director of Urban Ecology, which is working with Garfield parents and teachers to develop safer routes to school. "Parents know it's dangerous."

Like the students at Garfield, many kids in the state don't have the option of riding a school bus.

California ranks last among states in school bus use, according to the report. School bus ridership nationwide is up slightly since 1985 -- at about 53 percent in 2001. But only 16 percent of California public school students rode the bus in 2001, compared to 23 percent in 1985.

"School districts are faced with the choice of either taking teachers out of the classroom or taking buses off the road," said Bob Austin of the state Department of Education's Office of School Transportation.

Sitting in automobiles isn't helping kids fend off health problems, either, according to the report.

"We know that building exercise back into daily routines is important to lowering obesity rates," said Tom Van Demark, of the advocacy group Oakland Pedestrian Safety Project. "There are easy solutions to this."

Latino and African-American children are at greatest risk of being injured or killed while crossing streets, the report found.

Latino children accounted for more than 47 percent of all pedestrian deaths and hospitalized injuries among children, and comprised 42 percent of the state's population of children. African-American children accounted for 14.5 percent of pedestrian deaths and injuries, the report found.

Pedestrian accidents involving children cost the state more than $1.2 billion in 2001 in health care, missed school and suffering, the report found.

Oakland City Councilmember Danny Wan said Oakland has removed some crosswalks because of concerns that pedestrians would get hit by fast-moving cars.

"There needs to be an agreement about pedestrian safety and what actions to take," he said.

The report's authors recommend the state promote and fund programs that offer safe walking and biking options for kids, and encourage the construction of smaller, neighborhood schools. They also suggest public transit subsidies for kids.

Contact Rebecca Vesely at rvesely@angnewspapers.com