Arrested for Riding Bike to School

Could you be arrested for allowing your 5'th grade child to ride her bike one mile to school?  That certainly seems crazy as we try to encourage active life styles for our kids.  That certainly seems crazy as we try to promote safe routes to school programs.  That certainly seems crazy as we talk of an obesity epidemic amongst our children.  But that is what police in Elizabethton Tennessee are threatening.

Knoxville News Sentinel Editorial - Tennesseans can walk away from obesity

In an editorial Friday, the Knoxville News Sentinel noted that healthy lifestyles are not inherited, and that Tennessee ranks second in the nation (tied with Alabama) for obesity rates. A new free program by the Knoxville Track Club seeks to get people walking rather than running, meeting every Tuesday and Thursday evening at 6:30 PM at Cherokee Blvd. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee is also encouraging school walking programs.

NE TN Regional Directors of Bike Walk TN Invite You To an OCTOBER 10'th Gathering

CANCELED UNTIL NOVEMBER

IMPORTANT GATHERING OF BICYCLE PEDESTRIAN ADVOCATES: 
How we can affect policies and attitudes concerning:
- Safety for bicyclists and pedestrians
- Enforcement of existing laws
- Better municipal and regional planning for alternative transportation
- Increased funding for bicycle and pedestrian facilities
- Challenging attitudes toward those who choose to bike and walk
Click here for More Info , Visit us at BWT Region 6

Reasons to support biking and walking for almost all political philosophies

With the recent article claiming that (paraphrasing) cyclists are part of a communist plot to turn the country into a third world country, I thought I would list the reasons why it makes sense from a variety of political sides to support cycling and walking. Sure, that article was extreme, but more moderate variants of such are not unheard of.

Ray LaHood Continues to Defend Bicycles

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, who suffered a torrent of criticism from a host of road users this month after declaring ¨the end of favoring motorized transportion at the expense of non-motorized transportation¨, has defended his new bicycle policy in a recent blog post.

¨We know that 90 percent of the people are not going to be cycling to work or around town. But that opportunity and that kind of alternative is something people have said they want....We know that making biking and walking safer creates more livable communities. It makes Americans healthier at a time when the US military has indicated that 27% of recruits are too overweight to qualify for service. It lowers greenhouse gas emissions. It reduces our dependence on foreign oil...¨

Head over to the Transport Seretary´s Blog to read more. 

What do you think--does having a champion for Biking and Walking in the President´s cabinet make a difference for those of us biking and walking here in Tennessee?