The Government has promised 50m to help schools develop action plans "to promote safe and healthy travel to school". Transport secretary Alistair Darling says: "At ten to nine in the morning around one in five cars on the road is on the school run and we are all aware of the extra congestion this causes."
But parents say that existing traffic makes it unsafe for young children to go to school alone. Would it not be better to tackle the root cause of the problem rather than one of its symptoms? Is it unfair to blame parents and kids? Aren't the four out of five cars on the road not on the school run the cause of congestion?
Is this mainly a problem of the middle classes in London and the southeast of England? In one part of Hampstead there are 34 schools in an area of 1.2 square miles. Hampstead is where a lot of politicians and national newspaper journalists live. Are they getting a skewed view?
Talk about what happens in other parts of the country. Do young people from working-class communities walk, cycle or use the bus as they always have done?
Ask young people for their views of the suggestions proposed by the Government.
They include staggering the times of the school day, safer road crossings, "walking buses", dedicated cycle ways, secure bike sheds and locker space.
One campaigner says every child should have the right to a safe and healthy route to school. Do young people agree? What are the things that make their routes unsafe?
Schools are being told to develop action plans. Is it likely they will consult children and young people? If they do, will it make any difference?
The Government is also concerned that children and young people are not getting enough exercise. They think walking or cycling to school will help reduce the numbers of unfit and overweight young people. Are they right?
