Why was October Walk to School Month so unsuccessful?

October was a worldwide "Walk to School Month".  I mention this because you would not have noticed this in our area, with the amount of cars jostling for position outside our local primary school.  Though it has to be said that this is not particularly surprising.  It is known that parents will not let their children walk to school mainly because of fears of crime and traffic. A recent VicHealth survey of 1,500 people showed that 63% of parents believed that primary school aged children shouldn't move around their neighbourhoods without adult supervision.  It found that 43% of parents with children under the age of eighteen believed there was a high risk a child would be abducted by a stranger if allowed to walk around their neighbourhood alone. 62% believed there was too much traffic on the roads. While nobody would argue that traffic levels are a concern, it is ironic that traffic levels are noticeably at their highest during school term-time.  The parents themselves are often the cause of some of the highest congestion. Todd Harper, the VicHealth chief executive, said "The real risk of child abduction is extremely low, yet many parents believe there is a high risk" The percieved risk has seen a rise in the number of parents investigating child gps tracking devices.  Could more widespread use of child GPS tracking by parents for kids in school help allay the fears of parents and reduce the number of cars on our roads?