Mark you calendar for tomorrow, whether you’re a parent or not.

Wednesday is National Walk to School Day and hopefully all the underaged have the memo. Every morning I pass school after school where cars are lined up for blocks to drop their kids off.

In my neighborhood, we have an elementary school, middle school and high school all along the same street in less than a mile(and another private school just a block off).

North Hollywood High School with Bikes(1927)

You would think the elementary school would have the biggest backup, especially since it’s in the middle, but it’s actually the middle school that causes the biggest glut.

For most parents, it would be faster to drop their kids off a couple blocks away and let them walk. We also have super wide bike lanes that provide plenty of space, but those could be better utilized better as well.

The problem isn’t that the bike lanes hurt flow, it’s the number of cars turning onto one street that creates the bottleneck. You get a fair amount of backup for blocks and drivers get impatient.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve almost been hit because the left turn lane is clogged enough that cars try to cheat around it.

A lot of this could be alleviated if you got your kids out of those cars and let them walk, skate, trike or bike to school. Tomorrow, get out of your car, whether you’re a parent or not.