Back to school

[boo]

How does that cut down traffic on the roads Jerry? (Good to see you back by the way). Yes the roads will be less congested around the actual schools, but no less busier on the other roads.

I live about 10 yards from my daughter's primary school, and even for me, it's a 'mare getting her across the side street that the school's on. Mums (and dads) who are driving their kids to school are that insistent on parking as close to the school as possible that they give no thoughts to the people who are trying to walk across them on foot. Many a morning we have gridlock where cars from both directions are determined to park, they sit, hunched over the wheel glaring at the drivers across from them- its like the OK Coral!

And to end- one mum who lives near to the school admitted to me she drove her child there as she couldn't be bothered to get out of her PJ's to bring her!! With mentality like that, you might as well just give up.

[Karma]

Bear a thought for those who live near schools

My 90 year old father lives virtually right at the school gates, most of his neighbours are elderly. I cannot park within 500 yards of Dads house at any time between 8.30 and 5.00 on a weekday!

I am a mum myself, but I find it so unthoughtful! Yes, child safety is paramount, but why don't the parents with thier children and teachers park in the car parks 500+ yards away and walk the rest of the distance? I pressume they have better mobility than a lot of the folk that live near that school?

[jerryrm]

Hi Boo and thanks for welcoming me back. Well, the buses travel all the roads of the town and make many stops to pick up the students. Some of the stops are only a few hundred yards apart. There are only 10 or 15 students at each stop. It's a short walk from their homes, so many walk to the bus stop.

The parents either walk or drive the younger children to their bus stop and then wait there for the bus to arrive and pick them up. It's all pretty efficient and the only time that traffic is slowed down is when a bus stops to pick up or let off children. They turn on flashing red lights to warn the drivers in both directions that they are stopping. It's the law that all traffic in front of and behind a school bus must stop when the red lights are flashing and can only continue, when the driver turns off the lights.

[jerryrm]

When we find ourselves behind a school bus and we are in a hurry to get somewhere, it's easy to just take a side street to go around the bus and avoid the congestion.

[Anne (fuzzy)]

All I'm going to say is my granddaughter was beaten up by 3 yobs and left bleeding up an alley while she was walking to school when she was 13. Just because they wanted her mobile phone, which she didn't even have with her at the time.

[alanfinal]

I was sent miles to my secondary school,bus,walk,train,walk to a school that my parents thought was better than the one up the road,first day the only boy from my old school,not knowing a soul,a group of the local lads sent one of the girls they knew to start chatting to me and being friendly,just a ruse to accuse me of chatting up someones girl,first day at school in a fight,home a then given a hiding for getting in a fight,life aint fair,nope but Iam glad nobody wrapped me up in cotton wool,me and my friend had 3 blokes follow us on our way home from a snooker club only months ago,we knew straight away took our cues out and let them know,they crossed the road sharpish...nothing to be proud of or boast about but we get home in an area known for its muggings,a million and one arguments and a million things wrong with this world.

Thank god your granddaughter was ok.....oh for a better world

[farzooks]

Sept 5, 2012 0:56:19 GMT alanfinal said:

NOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooo their back in Watford (school kids) for weeks its been a pleasure to drive,now I have to share roads with all the mums that have kids incapable of walking,pointless 4X4s and people carriers,roll on the next half term

Well, living in the sticks, as I do, I see lots of school-run-mums and their broods (many of them in 4x4s too, but it's the countryside). I absolutely see the problem, as many of them have a 5mile or more trek which is horrible in the rain/snow/hail - even in the summer it's not a picnic every day if you have to do that. However, there are in fact some kids who do cycle the distance every day - my neighbour's kid is one of them.
No; my problem with some of the schooly-mums is the sheer bloody dangerous way some of them drive. They scoot along the back roads at a good 20mph above what is safe and to top that, I've lost count of the times I've seen their kids unsecured in the back seats.
Stupid, stupid, b*****ds.

[jayjay]

I think the biggest problem is that parents are infatuated with parking right outside the school entrance or as near as humanly possible. Causing grid lock. Parking 2, or 3 streets away and accompanying them would make things much easier. But for some reason that I can't see. Simply doesn't happen.

[alanfinal]

Well I had two days of hell,but that's nobodies fault as this happened www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19486211 right were I come of the M1

Lost 4 hours on Wednesday and a couple Thursday,but luckily stay in London Thursday nights,but must say if they want to fix something quick they can,as it was like a new road Friday after work