Banning vehicles from the vicinity of schools could help reverse the decline in walking seen in the UK in recent decades, said the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP).
At present, 38 per cent of all journeys under two miles – which could be covered by up to 30 minutes’ brisk walking – are taken by car, adding to the “twin crises” of obesity and climate change, the report warned.
– ‘Ban cars near schools to tackle problem of obesity’
No mention of bikes in the article, but an interesting idea. (A bike could make the 2 mile journey in 12 minutes, assuming a 10mph average speed…)
Some comments on this from Darlington’s Cllr Mike Cartwright on his blog also: Obesity, Cars and CO2. In the comments for that post (which you can only access via the main page of the blog, not the individual post), Kate Davies makes the point that working mothers may be more seriously affected by this proposal as they need to be able to drop the kids off and then get on to work. However, if the exclusion zone were fairly small, they would only need to walk the last bit to the school, and they may get to work faster if the traffic congestion is eased.
fantastic idea!
the way parents drive at pick up and drop off is outrageous!
if parents can not drive safely around their children’s schools?
there may be no hope for them