Dear Governor Christie:

Hi, I am in middle school in Princeton and I am writing to you on behalf of many kids about the lack of enough sidewalks in this state. Sidewalks are very crucial for child safety and health; therefore, I believe that we need more.

In terms of safety, most kids like me love skateboarding and riding their bikes around town and in their neighborhood. Many kids also ride their bikes to school. Unfortunately, in my case, when I was younger, I was sometimes not allowed to ride because of the lack of sidewalks. As I am getting older, I realize the reason for this and how it is still dangerous for kids to ride bikes on roads without sidewalks. Although I am allowed to ride now, it is still unnecessarily dangerous. On average, in the United States, 12 people a day are killed by the lack of sidewalks on roads. In 2006, New Jersey recorded 171 pedestrian deaths. Many of these came from the lack of sidewalks. According to the Federal Highway Administration, there would be 88 percent fewer road injuries with sidewalks on every road.

I think that we can agree that more sidewalks for our roads would be very useful for the people of New Jersey. So I am asking you, as governor of this state, if you would do everyone a favor and build more sidewalks.

Not only would this make riding around town safer, but it would encourage people to get out and exercise. One out of three kids is obese. There are two main ways to prevent people from becoming overweight: exercise and healthy eating choices. I think that exercise is the more important. Not only is it good for your body, it is good for your mental state. Because exercise is so crucial for losing weight, if we had more sidewalks it would be easier for practically everyone to exercise. The number of kids who are obese is growing and more sidewalks will encourage kids to go outside and lose weight. Instead of staying inside and playing video games, if kids felt safer, I guarantee they would exercise more.

I really hope you consider my request to make New jersey a safer and healthier place.

Aiden Silverstein

Talbot Lane