Michelle Obama ‘responsible’ for rise in pedestrian deaths in US

London: Michelle Obama has been blamed for the increasing number of pedestrian deaths in the US.

Mrs Obama had initiated a campaign ‘Let’s Move!’ to encourage more youngsters to walk to school in order to target the problem of obesity. When launched in February last February, the First Lady had said, “In the end, as First Lady, this isn’t just a policy issue for me. This is a passion. This is my mission. I am determined to work with folks across this country to change the way a generation of kids thinks about food and nutrition.” But critics have slammed the move, saying that the figures for road deaths in the first six months of 2010 were revealed. Figures show that there were 1,891 road related deaths between January and June last year whereas the previous year, it was only seven more during the same period. It was a 0.4 per cent increase and in 18 states there was an increase in the numbers, according to a study on Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by state. “There``s an emphasis these days to getting fit, and I think people doing that are more exposed to risk [of getting hit by a vehicle],” a daily quoted Governors Highway Safety Association Director Barbara Harsha as saying. And GHSA spokesman Jonathan Adkins told 630 WMAL that Michelle Obama is “trying to get us to walk to work and exercise a little bit more. While that’s good, it also increases our exposure to risk.” ANI