With the school run accounting for almost a fifth – 18 per cent – of car trips during term time, the rush hour should be considerably quieter this week when about 80,000 children walk into school.
In the UK, half of primary school children don't walk to school regularly and 41 per cent of pupils are driven in cars – a trend that is on the increase.
Parents often insist the school run is unavoidable but campaigners say driving children to school has a negative impact on their health through lack of exercise, reduces their road safety awareness and has a negative impact on the environment.
Laura Broom, 30, takes the daily 10 minute walk to Haselworth Primary School in Gosport with her three school age children Alex, 9, Max, 8, and Amber, 4.
Miss Broom, of Mayfield Road, Gosport, said: 'We walk to school every day no matter what the weather. It's nice for them to have a little run around in the mornings.
'I don't have a car but even if I did I'd rather walk to school as it's better for the environment and their health.
'I'd encourage more parents to walk with their children to school.'
This year Hampshire County Council is focusing on children's general road safety knowledge as they are unable to learn it first hand from the back seat of a car.
The council's road safety officers have taken an interactive assembly into schools to discuss the various traffic sounds they hear on the way to school and show how they link with the Green Cross Code.
Councillor Mel Kendal, who is in charge of the environment in Hampshire, said: 'Many more parents take their children to school by car than on foot as it's often quicker and more convenient.
'But walking offers independence and flexibility, and the more children walk, the more confident and responsible they become about road safety.
'More importantly they become familiar with roads and traffic dangers, making for a better understanding about their own road safety when they are taught the Green Cross Code in class.'