Not in 1975. In the early 60’s, when I was in kindergarten, EVERYONE walked. You saw no cars. Mothers had other little ones at home and people had one car families - the men took the cars to work often, and mom stayed at home without the car. Usually one Mom on the block had a car in case of an emergency. But everyone walked to school. That’s why there was no worry about child obesity at the time.
Also, you didn’t worry so much about anything happening to your child because there were so many kids on the way to school. There was always someone in sight.
I am about 10 years older than you, and in the early 50s there were almost no families with 2 cars. But, there were many employers who had several local fathers who worked at the same facility. So, the men got together in groups of 4 and carpooled. The task of driving the fifth day of the week rotated, and I remember my mom complaining when she had to be without the car two days in the same week.