SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - For the first time in a decade, the Salt Lake School District is allowing students to ride their bikes to school.
Monday evening parents and staff at Hawthorne Elementary on 6th East and 1700 South went door to door with green ribbons and pledge cards with suggestions for keeping the streets safe. Nicole Mason, who has a 6th grader at Hawthorne, summed up the message, “Watch for kids. Watch for everyone on bikes. We're out there a lot more and our kids are on bikes.” PTA President Priscilla Dewbury added, “We're just asking the neighborhood to pay attention."
The kids have also gotten the safety talk. 6th grader Zoe Stewart remembers, “Stop and look both ways at crosswalks. You have to move your arms in certain ways (signal) and you have to wear a helmet.” Zoe already rides her bike to school every morning with her mother.
Hawthorne Principal Marian Broadhead predicts that her 507 students will walk or ride more than 15,000 miles before the end of the school year – most of it on the way to and from school. The green ribbons now decorating the neighborhood are reminders for everyone to do all they can to make every mile accident free.
