KTVN Channel 2 - Reno Tahoe News Weather, Video - Walking Uphill Both Ways is Safe
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They may not be walking in the snow up hill but several hundred Sun Valley kids can now tell their kids they used to walk to school, if only for one day.
Police officers, parents and even the Superintendent Heath Morrison joined kids at Virginia Palmer Elementary School Wednesday as they took part in International Walk to School Day.
"I was just talking to a father a few minutes ago who said, maybe I need to do this two or three times per week," Morrison said. "That's the kind of message we hope will resonate and pick up with all of our parents."
But the district also understands many parents are nervous letting their kids walk. Nationwide more than 600 school-aged kids die in pedestrian-related accidents each year.
The biggest problem, Janet Carthen with the school police says, is inattentive drivers.
"The kids have a hard time just crossing at a crosswalk. We have vehicles parked in the crosswalk, we have cars that just drive through not stopping for the kids."
Ironically, one solution is more kids walking. Melissa Krall, with Safe Kids Washoe County who spearheaded the event says statistics show the more kids on the street going to and from school, the fewer that get hurt.
"Everybody fears that they're going to go up. They actually decrease because then people and drivers are more aware."
And more kids walking, means fewer parents driving up to drop them off. So kids walking to school... even if it is uphill both ways... will have fewer cars with which to deal.
