It almost sounds like you live near me! In the subdivision, one can walk all around safely, but trying to get the last 100 yards to the school is a nightmare. People go roaring along in their SUVs talking on the cellphone, like they’re in their own private universe. (/rant)
LOL I suspect riding in a car with a parent on a cell phone may be more dangerous than walking.
This is probably true of thousands of subdivisions across the country. They get built just off main roads, and they put a school in between them to serve all the subdivisions -- tada, big roads kids have to cross to get to school. This problem is compounded in my town where pedestrian considerations are the worst I've ever seen, both from the city's point of view (not many crosswalks in town) and the drivers who ignore the few crosswalks that exist.
Did you know that in Germany you can pretty much forget driving ever again if you hit a kid on a crosswalk? And that's not even one with a red light, just the zebra stripes across the road. There was a hit and run on one where a girl died and it was national news, with a national manhunt.