Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

alabama_students.jpg
On their way to class, Brooks High students brave the shoulder along route 72.

Perhaps taking a page from their peers in New Jersey, students at Brooks High in Florence, Alabama are ditching their cars in favor of walking to school. The Times Daily of northwest Alabama reports:

Students began wondering how much they could change gas prices bygetting the whole student body to walk to school. Without involving theschool or the administration, approximately 50 classmates wererecruited during a meeting last week. The students drew maps andplanned for two groups to walk from Killen and Center Star to school.

The students have been walking to school all week. There is much to commend here: The civic-mindedness, the willingness to walk a not-insignificant distance (along a route so hazardous that cops have to check in on them), and the tacit understanding that reducing VMT can reduce dependence on gas. The students even had to work around parade rules that could have put a crimp in their protest plans. And the organizers anticipate that high gas prices are not going away anytime soon:

The group will continue its protest until the last day of school on May29. Simbeck and McCutchen said they also plan to continue the protestnext school year as seniors.

That said, and this may just be a matter of how the reporter chose to word the story, this high school protest appears to be more of a cry for help at the pump than an assertion of pedestrian and cyclist rights. Then again, who wouldn't turn to pedestrian advocacy after a week of walking, with no sidewalk and apparently no trees, along traffic-dominated, sun-scorched U.S. 72?

Photo: Times Daily

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Does the Media Help Create the Traffic Violence Crisis?

Which came first: the chicken (deadly driving) or the egg (a culture that normalizes it)?

March 25, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines Are Off Track

Amtrak's CEO resigned in an effort to protect the passenger rail system from the Trump administration, the AP reports.

March 25, 2025

It’s Time For State DOTs to Step Up and Do a Better Job

As federal support for active modes gets clawed back, state DOTs could play a more important role in America's transportation system — and a new report argues they need to innovate.

March 24, 2025

Monday’s Headlines Pedal Away

When you free yourself/ It's the chance of a lifetime

March 24, 2025

What’s Next for L.A.’s Groundbreaking Bike/Bus/Walk Law?

L.A. county is trying to get out of implementing a law that L.A. city passed with strong support.

March 21, 2025
See all posts