Lake Charles, La. -- Nearly 600 schools nationwide are participating in “Walk to School Day,” including a school here in Southwest Louisiana.

On Wednesday, October 5, from 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m., students at John J. Johnson Elementary, located at 500 Malcolm St., Lake Charles, LA, will participate in the international program “Walk to School Day,” which began to promote a safe walk to school.

"Students will be chaperoned on their walk to school, receive pedestrian safety education during their physical education classes, then will be chaperoned on their walk home." “Walking School Bus” will also take place before and after school at approximately 3:45 p.m., said a City of Lake Charles press release.

Safe Kids Lake Charles, along with community leaders, Impact Lake Charles AmeriCorps, the Lake Charles Police Department, the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana Cancer Control and the Department of Health and Hospitals will walk with the students of J.J. Johnson "to advocate for safer walking environments for school children.”  The pedestrian safety program is sponsored by FedEx

Every day, 44 children are hit by a car in the U.S. That’s 16,000 children hit by cars every year. According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries are the second-leading cause of death among children ages 5 to 14 worldwide. Safe Kids Lake Charles is working to raise awareness, promote pedestrian safety and create safer routes for walking and bicycling to school. Safe Kids and FedEx recently released an interactive infographic on the seven ways children get hit by cars.

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