A group of Thomas Jefferson magnet high school students have designed an app to help kids walk to school more safely. This after one of them tried running home from school and discovered himself on a busy road with no sidewalks in the dark.

Pedestrian safety — and lack thereof — is the ugly dark side of walking in the suburbs. Pedestrian fatalities shot up 72 percent between 2009 and 2024.

These young guys decided to do something about it. They worked on the app for months, creating an algorithm that takes safety and speed into account as well as other mapping data. Their app notes streets with sidewalks and crosswalks, for instance.

After winning a school competition, the SafeWalkr app was rolled out for (semi) public consumption. Fairfax County families who live within walking distance to 14 schools are giving it a try. If successful, it will be expanded to all county schools.

It can’t come soon enough.

(These walkers are in New York City, where crosswalks are more plentiful than in the suburbs.)